


0104

by eons



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (chapter 2 is a doyu centric bonus!!), Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, background renmin & doyu, fair warning this is just Pining: The Fic, haechan lee as your local youtuber, huang renjun as headache #1, its mutual tho <3, na jaemin as headache #2, oh and markhei make cameos as frat boyfies, starring lee jeno as pining extraordinaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eons/pseuds/eons
Summary: “ask me again,” jeno blurts out, words a little rushed. he lets out a cough and repeats, “ask me to be your boyfriend again.”donghyuck appears kind of taken aback but does as jeno says anyway. “okay. would you like to be my fake boyfriend?”“yes,” jeno replies, maybe a little too fast.jeno looks at donghyuck, watching for some kind of reaction and safe to say, donghyuck doesn’t deliver. he just stares back at jeno, and mutters, “damn. i didn’t think you’d actually say yes.”or;jeno lives a life of normalcy. that is, until one donghyuck lee barges in and asks him to be his boyfriend and then some. it works out better than expected.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 26
Kudos: 195





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hii its literally been a whole year since my last fic but im here <3 good evening nohyuck nation ive come to offer u this & i hope i did these two justice !! 
> 
> anyway enjoy this fic i still have no idea why its so long, see u again nxt year aha

lee jeno lives a fairly normal life. 

at least, he likes to believe as such, and for the most part, he does. he’s a business major that rooms with two of his friends in a humble apartment near campus. his week mostly consists of going to class, going to work at the cafe near his apartment and occasionally getting wasted with the previously aforementioned roommates. when he’s not doing any of that, he’s probably stressing about midterms and student loans. 

see? perfectly normal. 

what is not normal, however, is whatever that’s happening right now. 

jeno had clocked into work about twenty minutes ago, prepared for another painfully uneventful shift at his campus cafe. it’s when he’s talking to jungwoo, the other barista working the same shift as him, that jeno starts to realize something is amiss. 

he can’t help but feel like he’s being _watched_ somehow, but he brushes it off as nothing at the beginning. his suspicions are then confirmed when he shoots his head up, catching a pair of girls not so subtly staring at him. the girls notice that they’ve been caught because they immediately look away, giggling at each other. 

_huh_ , he thinks. _that’s weird._

“hey, hyung,” jeno calls out to jungwoo who’s making a latte at the side. jungwoo hums in response. “do i have something on my face?” 

jungwoo looks up from where he is and furrows his brows at jeno, before shaking his head. “no? you look fine.” 

jeno only nods absent-mindedly at jungwoo and mutters out a quiet, _thanks,_ _hyung_. if jungwoo is curious as to why jeno suddenly asks him if he looks alright, he doesn’t say anything. in the end, jeno just tells himself that maybe the girls thought he was cute or something – he _did_ get his fair share of valentine’s day cards in high school and it wasn’t that unusual to get a random confession every now and then from an underclassman. right. that’s what it was – what else could it be? 

however, things only end up becoming more unusual as nearing the end of jeno’s shift, when he’s closing up the cafe, one of the two girls – a student jeno’s pretty sure he’s seen on campus – comes up to him and asks, “excuse me, but are you haechan’s boyfriend?” 

now, there are several different ways hypothetical jeno could’ve answered this – all perfectly normal answers to a not-so normal question. most easy would be the simple: “no, sorry, you’ve got the wrong person.” straight to the point and does the trick. lovely. 

instead, real-life jeno lets out an awkward laugh that’s far too out of place, followed by a strained, “what?” the smile plastered on his face as a nervous habit threatens to waver a bit when he sees the girl shoot him an unimpressed look, but it doesn’t fall because jeno has been working in customer service for too long to be put off by people judging him by now. 

“are you dating haechan?” she asks again, this time, slower. jeno blinks at her. 

“uh-” he begins, unsure of what exactly to say. _who the hell is_ _haechan_ _?_ “i don’t know who you’re talking about but i’m definitely not dating anyone named haechan.” 

the girl’s mouth parts slightly, forming an o around her lips and if jeno isn’t wrong, she almost deflates a little, as if disappointed. “sorry for disturbing you then. thanks, anyway.” 

and with that, she leaves, leaving jeno with more questions than he had before. 

\

“hey, jaemin, do you happen to know anyone called haechan?” jeno asks, as he finishes up his essay due the next day, not looking away from his laptop. the cursor blinks at him. jeno blinks back. 

jaemin hums from where he is on the couch, leaning against renjun who’s idly flicking through the channels on jeno’s flatscreen. 

“haechan, huh? any last name?” jaemin asks in reply, looking at jeno, eyebrows raised. 

jeno frowns, looking back at jaemin. “nope.” 

“why do you want to know anyway? got anyone you’re looking for?” jaemin wiggles his brows in the way that causes jeno to roll his eyes at him in disbelief. “stop making it weird, jaem. it’s just that some girl came up to me the other day at working asking me if i was dating some guy named haechan.” 

whatever jeno says must have piqued the interest of renjun as well as the latter mutes the television which is probably playing another rerun of the Great British Bake Off, turning his attention fully to jeno. 

“ _oh?_ does jeno lee have a secret admirer of some sorts? maybe that girl was his wingwoman,” jaemin says with a shit-eating grin, and renjun, being the absolute asshole that he is, cackles along with his boyfriend at jeno. jeno scowls at the two of them and wonders if it would be too late to go looking for new roommates. 

“shut the fuck up, dude,” jeno says. “besides, if it _was_ a secret admirer, she must have been an absolutely awful wingman-” 

“no fucking way-” renjun interjects, cutting off jeno mid-sentence. “the dude’s name is haechan, right? what if, it’s _the_ haechan?” 

jeno stares at renjun with an incredulous expression, clearly not understanding what renjun was trying to get at. _the_ haechan? was that a celebrity he just never heard of? “is adding ‘the’ before his name supposed to ring a bell or something?” 

renjun looks at jeno in disbelief as if _he’s_ the one not making sense before turning to his boyfriend who looks just as confused as jeno does. “oh my god, you both literally have no idea who lee haechan is.” 

jeno thinks renjun’s being pretty fucking dramatic but the name _lee_ _haechan_ does happen to ring a bell, he just can’t point out where exactly he’s heard it from- 

his thoughts get cut off by renjun who pulls up youtube on the television and clicks on this channel that jeno doesn’t recognise and _oh._ the channel renjun has pulled up is called FULLSUN with a decent following of 1.2 million subscribers, the latest video titled _trapping my roommates in an escape room_ with over two million views. 

jeno squints at the thumbnail and channel banner and realises that’s him: lee haechan. a guy that his previous roommate wong yukhei is like, best friends with. a guy that jeno shares the same economics class with. a guy jeno is fairly sure is called lee _donghyuck._

“donghyuck has a youtube channel?” jeno asks out loud. he walks over to where jaemin and renjun are cuddling on the couch, before shoving them to the side, telling them to scoot over, much to the pair’s mutual chagrin. 

“you know him _personally_?” renjun splutters. “dude, like everyone on campus is a little bit in love with him, and you’re telling me you don’t even know he has, like, internet clout?” 

jeno shrugs. “i briefly know him, i guess. remember yukhei? they’re super close. anyway, isn’t donghyuck dating mark lee from the dance department?” 

jaemin clicks his tongue at jeno. “man, i can’t believe you’re friends with yukhei but don’t know that he’s been dating mark for the last semester. they’re like, facebook official.” 

“who the fuck even uses facebook anymore?” 

“doyoung, probably,” renjun interjects. jeno makes a point to ignore him. 

instead, he scrolls down donghyuck’s channel a little more, briefly scanning the videos, each raking in over a million views. his recent video called _my brother's graduation roast_ even hit five million views. his content mostly was made up of vlogs and the occasional prank video. basically, things that jeno would usually never watch on youtube. 

that does nothing to explain what happens a few days later, however. 

it’s four in the morning and jeno has class in less than four hours, but here he is, watching lee donghyuck, channel creator of FULLSUN, attempt to throw a frat party at his brother’s house. 

jeno didn’t didn’t intend for things to end up like this, but it just kind of.. happened? jeno was on youtube after handing in an assignment fifteen minutes ago, knowing that by the sheer amount of coffee he drank, there’s no way he’s falling asleep in the next five hours. and that was just at twelve thirty. 

he’s kind of surprised that he hasn’t heard of donghyuck’s channel before because donghyuck’s brother, jung jaehyun, makes an appearance on his videos every now and then (mostly as the person getting pranked) and jeno’s brother _dated_ that very jung jaehyun. hell, doyoung’s even _in_ his videos. 

this strikes jeno when he clicks on donghyuck’s second most popular video, _slumber party with my brother’s exes_ where he sees doyoung alongside everyone else that’s dated jaehyun. he even recognizes taeyong there, he used to choreograph for the dance team before he graduated last year. actually, who _hasn’t_ jung jaehyun dated? 

**good brother**

doie 

doieeee 

hyung hyung h yung 

**better brother**

what do you want 

**good brother**

do you know jaehyun 

**better brother**

you mean my ex? 

**good brother**

yea him 

**better brother**

no 

**good brother**

H Y U N G 

**better brother**

ugh fine yes i know jaehyun 

**good brother**

?do you know his brother? donghyuck

 **better brother**

yeah i know hyuck 

he’s a cute kid 

why are you asking though 

**good brother**

u know that ur on his youtube channel 

?? 

**better brother**

no shit jen 

everybody knows his channel he plugs it all the time 

he just asked me to join for a video and i agreed 

**good brother**

k cool 

thx 

**better brother**

wow . this is how kids treat their elders huh 

no respect 

**good brother**

tell yuta hyung i say hi 

i’ll see u at dinner nxt week 

<33 

**better brother**

i hate you 

<3 

it’s 5am and jeno thinks that maybe he’s watched at least half of all the videos uploaded on the FULLSUN channel and honestly? jeno understands what renjun meant when he said that about half of campus was a little bit in love with donghyuck. 

he doesn’t know about _love_ love, but if anything, donghyuck’s got a personality that leaves jeno wanting to watch another video of him terrorizing his roommates by playing some form of prank on them. something about watching a six feet something tall guy like yukhei being scared of someone as deceivably adorable as donghyuck is hilarious. at the same time, it’s also a little terrifying. 

jeno is fucked. 

/

“you look awful,” renjun tells him the next morning during their economics lecture. 

“thank you so much for being such a supportive friend, injunie.” 

renjun rolls his eyes at jeno. “but really though, did you not any sleep? bro, you need to rest a little more.” jeno’s slightly touched that renjun actually sounds concerned to a certain degree but he’ll let hell freeze over before he admits that he spent the entire night binge watching FULLSUN videos. 

“i’m fine, just stayed up a little to finish my polsci essay,” jeno lies. renjun _tsks_ but doesn’t say anything else, diverting his attention back to the lecture. 

jeno can’t actually bring himself to pay attention, professor bae’s voice sounding more like white noise at the back of his mind as he starts to let his eyes wander. _donghyuck takes this class,_ jeno remembers and tries to scan the class for the familiar blonde. except, he realizes that donghyuck isn’t actually here. 

jeno tries not to feel disappointed, instead taking it upon himself to play with the pen on his desk. renjun elbows him to get him to focus but after seeing how it doesn’t work, he mutters under his breath, “if you fail this class i’ll tell your mom, lee jeno. i don’t let you copy my notes just so you can end up flunking the test.” 

jeno opens his mouth to protest but at that moment, the door to the lecture theatre opens, the sound disrupting the professor mid-sentence and lo and behold: it’s lee donghyuck in all his glory, a sheepish look on his face. 

“mister lee, late once again.” professor bae doesn’t sound too pleased but jeno thinks that she never sounds happy. fortunately, jeno has never had to face her wrath firsthand but he knows how much of a nightmare she can be if she wants to. he can only wish donghyuck the best of luck. 

“sorry, professor,” donghyuck says, his tone apologetic. 

and by some miracle of nature, professor bae just sighs and lets him go without another word. _huh_ , he thinks, _that’s just the lee donghyuck effect i guess._

donghyuck walks up the steps of the lecture hall as everyone else focuses their attention back on professor bae. jeno, however, in his sleep-deprived state and doesn’t realise that donghyuck is taking the seat beside him until he asks, “hey, jeno, right? is anyone sitting here?” 

“i - yeah, no one’s sitting there,” jeno tells him, blinking dumbly. he tries not to fixate on how _lee_ _donghyuck_ knows his name – except, two days ago lee donghyuck was just lee dongyuck and not _lee_ _donghyuck_. jeno doesn’t even know what he’s saying at this point. 

donghyuck flashes him a small smile before he settles down and starts paying attention to the lecture and jeno thinks that’s probably the end of this interaction. 

that proves not to be true because when the lecture finally ends and jeno is ready to go back to his apartment with renjun, donghyuck stops him and asks, “i’m really sorry but can i ask you for a favour?” 

renjun looks between jeno and donghyuck and a smile spreads on his face that looks far too suspicious for jeno’s liking. “don’t worry about it. i’ll catch up with you later, jen.” 

jeno tries not to look distressed at how renjun’s basically leaving him to die, but maybe he’s being a little overdramatic. “what’s up?” 

“uh, i was hoping you could send me the notes you took down for today’s class? i kinda blanked out like halfway through and the last thing i need to is fail professor bae’s class.” donghyuck sounds apologetic and jeno doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he didn’t take down any notes either. 

“yeah, sure. i can text them to you?” jeno settles for, deciding that he’ll just have to use renjun’s notes once again. 

“thank you, oh my god, you’re a lifesaver,” donghyuck tells him, relief washing over his face, “i’ll give you my number.” jeno saves his contact in donghyuck’s phone wordlessly, still not quite completely wrapping his head around what was happening. 

“it’s no problem! you looked a little tired today during class,” jeno says, remembering how donghyuck was basically dozing off beside him. 

donghyuck smiles sheepishly, letting out a short bark of laughter. “yeah, i’ve been surviving purely on caffeine for the past 48 hours. editing videos is a bitch.” it takes jeno a moment to register that he’s talking about editing a video for his channel. 

“don’t you have an editor, though?” 

donghyuck lets out a sigh. “i did, but she had to quit so now i have to both film _and_ edit. god i had no idea how i used to do this regularly in freshmen year. this is a nightmare.” 

jeno has no idea what compels him to open his mouth and say what he says, he thinks maybe it has something to do with how donghyuck looks like he’s ready to collapse and take a ten-hour nap any moment. 

“i don’t really know much about editing and stuff, but if you like, ever need help with studying or whatever, you can just find me?” jeno feels nervous, and he thinks he’s done something immensely stupid. it’s not like jeno himself is particularly smart, and there a bunch of better people donghyuck can go to. now donghyuck probably thinks he’s we– 

“you’d do that?” 

jeno blinks. “yeah, sure.” 

the smile donghyuck sends him is blinding. 

/

renjun raises a brow at him. “you need my notes? you never ask for notes until a week before finals.” 

“can’t i just have a head start for once?” jeno shoots back, feigning mock offense. he doesn’t want to tell renjun the real reason why, knowing that his horrible friend would take it upon himself to make fun of jeno for his little infatuation(??) with donghyuck. 

renjun lets out a disbelieving laugh, drawing attention from jaemin who was on his phone. “jaem,” renjun calls his boyfriend, “do you believe that jeno wants to get a ‘head start’ on his econs revision?” jaemin snorts and replies, “jen, i love you, but you’re a shitty liar.” 

jeno lets out a frustrated groan, wondering why he has to have the absolute worst possible best friends ever. “ _fine_. i need injun’s notes because i promised donghyuck that i’d help him with econs. happy now?” 

renjun holds up a palm to stop jeno from taking his notes to which the other begrudgingly complies. “hold on just a sec. why would you, jeno lee, offer to help out donghyuck lee with econs when you are fully aware that economics is your worst subject?” there’s a smug tone in renjun’s voice that causes jeno to roll his eyes. 

“because i wanted to help out someone out of the kindness of my heart?” jeno tries, even though he’s sure that it’s not the answer renjun is looking for. 

“wrong,” jaemin says. “it’s cause you have a crush on donghyuck.” 

“i don’t think that’s for you to decide?” jeno tells him, laughing nervously. 

jaemin only tuts at him. “no, i think it is.” 

jeno lets out a dejected sigh and realises that there’s no point in deterring the menaces that are his best friends. 

/ 

just like that, jeno’s perfectly normal life becomes not so normal. he doesn’t realise that back then, of course, but when he does, jeno finds out it’s too late and it would be best for fate to just have her way first. when did fate get so nosy? jeno doesn’t know. 

jeno texts donghyuck the notes just like he promised he would, and where he had originally thought would be the end of their interaction was just the beginning it seems. donghyuck continues texting jeno throughout the week, their conversation leaving the topic of their shared class within the first ten minutes. naturally, jeno texts back and thus, a beautiful friendship blossoms. 

except, not really. 

for one, jeno hasn’t told jaemin or renjun about this, and for the foreseeable future, he isn’t planning on telling them anytime soon either. he loves his friends, but his newly acquired friendship with donghyuck is precious – even if a large portion of it is just them sending memes to each other on instagram – and jeno wants to keep it to himself for now. 

jeno also hasn’t told donghyuck that he’s actually a fan of his channel, even if he discovered it like two weeks ago. donghyuck knows he’s subscribed, probably because the latter sent jeno a link to his channel three days into texting him. (what he doesn’t know is that jeno actually has post notifications on and the whole shabang. he intends on keeping it that way.) 

it feels a little weird though, and jeno starts to notice the little differences between donghyuck and haechan. 

in many ways, they’re still the same people. donghyuck, much like haechan, is loud and bubbly, full of so much life that sometimes jeno worries that he’d eventually tire himself out. he’s full of bright smiles and loud laughter, and jeno sees the same person he sees through the screen of his phone in the person who sits beside him during lectures, dozing off. 

but there still the little things jeno realises, kind of like how he’d never expect donghyuck to be the hopeless romantic type and somehow know all the dialogue from The Proposal by heart. neither does he expect donghyuck to have a softer, more gentle side to his larger-than-life personality in the way he spots him at the grocery store buying ingredients for dim sum because in his words, _xuxi was feeling a little homesick so_ _i’m_ _making him some food he used to eat back in_ _hongkong_. 

all of this, of course, does absolutely nothing to help the not-so small crush jeno’s been harbouring for donghyuck in the last few weeks. 

donghyuck’s always been pretty, jeno thinks one day as he’s spacing out during a lecture, but after he actually started talking to him, he realises that it’s not just his face that’s kind of captivating. even his personality leaves jeno thinking like he can’t get enough. of course, jeno would rather drop out than ever tell this to anyone, but that’s fine by him. he’s had plenty of fleeting crushes on people – hell, at one point he’d even liked renjun, and now he can’t imagine seeing his best friend in that way. 

crush on donghyuck, be damned. jeno’s kind of an expert when it comes to suppressing his feelings and pretending they don’t exist. he doesn’t think jaemin or renjun would really approve of his method of coping with feelings, but it’s not like they’ll find out anyway, right? anyway, it’s not like him harbouring feelings for donghyuck would even lead to anything so it’s not even a big deal. 

/

maybe jeno spoke too soon. 

“are you busy?” is what donghyuck asks jeno one afternoon after they finished their shared lecture. 

off the top of his head, jeno knew that his schedule for the day – hell, the entire week, was pretty vacant. well, wong kunhang from the chemistry department invited jeno to a party on friday but it’s not like he was thinking of going anyway. so yes, jeno lee is very much free. but why was donghyuck asking _him_ this? was he going to invite jeno to some elusive frat party? 

“yeah, why?” jeno answers, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. over the weeks, he’s gotten pretty good at acting like donghyuck’s mere presence doesn’t make his heart flutter. 

donghyuck immediately brightens as he says, “great! follow me,” and without giving jeno a warning, he takes his hand and heads out of the building, dragging jeno along with him. 

jeno doesn’t find it within himself to complain or ask questions, maybe because he’s used to donghyuck’s touchy nature, or maybe because donghyuck’s hand feels extra warm in his. jeno tries not to think about it too much. 

they wind up at kind of a hipster-ish cafe that jeno has never stepped into before nor would have imagined someone like donghyuck to frequent but he’s come to learn that the sun-kissed boy is full of surprises. the pair step inside, causing the bell at the door of the cafe to chime softly. 

inside, there aren’t that many people and they settle down at a quiet corner of the cafe. before jeno can ask donghyuck what exactly they’re doing here, donghyuck spots one of the baristas on shift and waves him over. “yangyang, hey!” he greets, a smile stretching across his lips. 

yangyang comes over, an exasperated sort of smile on his face which leads jeno to think that they’re definitely friends. it makes sense, jeno reasons, that donghyuck would somehow have a friend at every single spot in campus. 

“hyuck, how have you been?” yangyang says conversationally, before he notices jeno and continues, “oh, i don’t think i’ve introduced myself yet. i’m yangyang, donghyuck’s old roommate. you are–?” 

“jeno lee,” jeno replies, “donghyuck and i share a class,” 

yangyang smiles politely at him before turning to the counter for a moment and letting out a sigh. “sorry guys, kun’s giving me dirty looks from behind the register so i gotta get back to work. anyway, hyuck i’m guessing you’ll take your regular to-go? and for jeno –” 

“nah, i don’t really drink coffee. caffeine fucks with my sleep schedule,” jeno explains, apologetic. with that, yangyang leaves, leaving jeno all nervous again because why did donghyuck want to talk with him anyway? 

“okay, so you know how april fool’s is coming up soon, right?” donghyuck asks him the moment yangyang’s out of earshot. 

“it’s the second week of january, though,” jeno replies. 

“exactly, we barely have any time,” donghyuck agrees, and jeno wants to say _no,_ _i’m_ _pretty sure there’s quite some time left_ , but donghyuck continues, “every year i always upload an april fool’s prank on my channel and this year, i gotta make it the best one yet. but somehow, someone always manages to figure it out before the prank itself.” 

“and where exactly do i come in?” jeno asks. 

“i need you to be my boyfriend,” donghyucks tells him plainly. 

jeno, to put it simply, was not expecting that. he immediately started choking on his own spit, alarming donghyuck as well. “shit, i shouldn’t have said it like that,” donghyuck curses at himself, offering jeno a glass of water to ease his coughing fit. 

when jeno has calmed down, wiping away a stray tear, he croaks out, “i’m fine, just taken by surprise. you were saying?” 

“well, i need a boyfriend. like, a fake one. and i’d usually ask either mark or xuxi but my viewers know they’re dating each other and i don’t think i’d be able to survive being in a poly with the two of them. even if it’s a couple of months. and most of my viewers would know my other friends, so since you’re a new friend, no one would know anything about you, either.” 

donghyuck looks up and meets jeno’s eye. “and you’re perfect for the part! you’re nice and honestly dating you doesn’t sound too bad. everyone would totally buy it. so, you in?” 

jeno doesn’t know what to say. firstly, did donghyuck just say that he wouldn’t mind dating jeno? well, technically all he said that the prospect of dating him doesn’t sound _too_ bad which admittedly isn’t exactly high praise but in jeno’s defence, he’s been harbouring something of a crush on donghyuck for the past month or so and he’ll take whatever he can get. 

and secondly, _what the fuck?_ should he say yes? jaemin would probably kill him if he found out that jeno passed on an opportunity like this, no doubt talking about how it was his kdrama moment or something – but then again, jeno won’t be telling any of this to jaemin anyway. 

“no,” jeno answers finally. 

donghyuck deflates. “really? that’s a bummer.” but just like that, he perks up again and continues, “well, do you wanna go anywhere? since we’re already out, we could just hang.” 

“wait,” jeno stops him, “you’re not gonna like, try to convince me or something? that’s all?” 

donghyuck offers him a shrug. “nope. i wouldn’t wanna force you into doing it or anything–” 

“ask me again,” jeno blurts out, words a little rushed. he lets out a cough and repeats, “ask me to be your boyfriend again.” 

donghyuck appears kind of taken aback but does as jeno says anyway. “okay. would you like to be my fake boyfriend?” 

“yes,” jeno replies, maybe a little too fast. 

jeno looks at donghyuck, watching for some kind of reaction and safe to say, donghyuck doesn’t deliver. he just stares back at jeno, and mutters, “damn. i didn’t think you’d actually say yes.” 

jeno lets out a short bark of laughter. truthfully, he’s with donghyuck on this one – he doesn’t quite believe that he’d actually agree either. “then why’d you ask me in the first place?” 

“i dunno,” donghyuck admits, “i guess i had nothing to lose. anyway, let’s grab my drink and get out of here.” donghyuck gets up and offers a hand to jeno who’s still kind of confused. 

“where are we going?” jeno stares at donghyuck’s extended hand, raising a brow. 

donghyuck offers him a lopsided grin. “on our first date, of course.” 

(it doesn’t take much convincing for jeno to take donghyuck’s hand after that.) 

/

“what do we actually do?” jeno asks donghyuck one day after class. they’re both at the university library (jeno came here to actually study, while donghyuck showed up half an hour later because in his words, _mark and_ _xuxi_ _are on a date and if_ _i_ _don’t have any company_ _i’ll_ _literally shrivel up and die from the lack of attention_ and what was jeno supposed to do – say no?) 

donghyuck lets out a confused hum, looking over his laptop at him, “study i guess? since we’re at the library.” 

“no, not like that,” jeno replies, “like. since we’re fake dating and stuff. what do we actually do as a fake couple? usually in movies the fake couple does some bonding, y’know? to make sure we act natural and don’t blow our cover.” 

“funny you mention this, actually, cause i was literally just working on a schedule.” 

“schedule...?” 

donghyuck scoots closer to jeno, so that their knees are bumping and he shows him his laptop screen. there’s a microsoft onenote calendar with certain dates highlighted and upon further inspection, jeno realises the circled dates are labelled with little notes in donghyuck’s messy handwriting like, _film bf reveal video_ and _meet the family!_

“wow, you really have this all planned out, huh?” jeno mumbles, surprised at the amount of attention to detail. “and here i was thinking that you were actually getting professor bae’s essay done.” 

donghyuck pinches him lightly at that, “man, shut up. i usually plan my content and i just wanted to make this so that i don’t have to bother you on days you have work and stuff. makes it easier for things to go smoothly.” his tone turns a little bashful and jeno’s face softens. 

“what did you mean by ‘meet the family’?” jeno asks, changing the topic, “i don’t actually have to meet your parents, right?” the thought of having to meet donghyuck’s parents and introduce himself as said boy’s boyfriend sounds a little unnerving. 

“nah, you don’t actually have to have dinner with my family or whatever,” donghyuck laughs, and jeno finds himself relaxing, the corner of his lips tugging up. “i just wanna bother jaehyun with you and force him to pay for dinner at a nice restaurant. if you’re down?” he shoots jeno a hopeful look and of course jeno says yes. 

“only if you meet doyoung too,” jeno tells him, and adds as an afterthought, “and yuta, since they’re practically a package deal at this point.” 

/

“jen, on a scale of one to ten how camera shy are you?” donghyuck asks him while he’s setting up the cameras. jeno thinks about for a moment before replying, “uh. like five?” 

“that’s fine,” donghyuck tells him, “bet you won’t believe me but i was awkward as hell when i filmed my first few videos. you’ll get used to it over time. 

“you’re kidding,” jeno replies. he can’t imagine donghyuck being stiff in front of the cameras, not when he speaks to his viewers like they’re right there with him. but it makes jeno feel less nervous about filming nonetheless. 

the filming itself goes a lot better than jeno would have imagined. they’re filming the boyfriend reveal video which donghyuck said would be posted on valentine’s day and it consists of mainly answering a lot of those questions like when they met and all that, except it feels kind of like he’s being interviewed which donghyuck mentioned was the vibe he was going for. 

(“isn’t this just a glorified boyfriend tag?” jeno asks at one point. 

“yeah, but like. the last time someone made one of those was in 2014,” donghyuck replies, “gotta stay with the times, y’know?”) 

“so, first question. how did the two of you meet?” donghyuck asks, looking at jeno from behind the camera. 

“oh, this is an easy one,” jeno replies, knowing the two of them have already gone through this during their ‘study sessions’ which ended up being jeno trying to actually get work done while donghyuck distracts the both of them. 

the rest of the questions go just as smoothly until donghyuck asks, “what’s the most likeable thing about the other?” now that’s a question that they haven’t discussed but jeno finds himself saying, “well. there are a lot of things to like about haechanie. but i think a personal favourite is how he’s so full of life. his happiness is so contagious too, it’s impossible to feel down around him.” 

jeno stops talking and realises what he said was literally him projecting his real-life feelings for donghyuck. his cheeks immediately redden after this realisation dawns onto him and neither of them say a thing until donghyuck lets out a low whistle. “talk about an ego boost, huh?” but jeno doesn’t miss how his cheeks were a little red too. 

and as much as jeno wants to tell him, _i_ _meant all of that, you know_ , for the sake of himself and entertainment value, he rolls his eyes and tells him, “i take that all back suddenly, you’re insufferable.” 

“ _hey_ ,” donghyuck whines, but his voice softens as he continues, “for what it’s worth, my favourite thing about you is how you’re so gentle. you feel safe, for lack of better word.” donghyuck’s gaze is intense, like he means what he says. like this isn’t just for the sake of the cameras that are rolling and jeno almost lets himself believe that for a moment until donghyuck tears his eyes away and pokes his head into frame and lets out a snort. “it’s pretty easy to tell who’s the smooth talker here, i know.” 

jeno can’t help but laugh at that too, and he feels a little lighter. 

donghyuck also insists on taking a lot of close up shots of jeno and jeno has to remind him that he’s only pretending to be his boyfriend, not a vogue cover boy. “i need them for the video,” donghyuck murmurs, placing most of his attention on the camera that’s entirely focused on jeno. “can't have the world not knowing how pretty jeno lee is.” 

“you’re full of shit,” jeno mumbles, with no real bite behind it. he still can’t help the blush that crawls up the back of his neck. 

/

something jeno should mention is that he hasn’t mentioned any of this stuff to renjun and jaemin. 

_this stuff_ referring to his little proposition with donghyuck and how they’ve basically been going on ‘bonding escapades’ as donghyuck calls them. it’s not because jeno doesn’t trust the two of them to keep a secret (he doesn’t) but because he doesn’t want to go through the whole hassle of explaining everything to them. and he’s about a hundred percent sure that they’d freak out. 

(plus, he doesn’t need jaemin and his psych major self to tell him that it’s probably unhealthy to pretend to date someone he actually wants to date. jeno can ponder over that train of thought all by himself, thank you very much.) 

anyway, he thinks that he won’t have to worry about either of his friends figuring things out anytime soon. 

/

jeno supposes that maybe he’s spoken too soon because three weeks later he gets spammed with about a hundred or so messages in the group chat he has with jaemin and renjun. as he scrolls through the texts, jeno realises how it’s mostly them screaming in all caps. 

**jen**

yo wtf 

whats going on?? 

**headache #1**

DIDNT U READ THE T EXTS ???? 

**headache #2**

just scroll up jeno 

**jen**

fuck no 

theres like a million of them 

which reminds me: 

what the fuck u guys.. its like 9 in the morning 

**headache #2**

god ur so annoying 

**headache #1**

UR DATING HAECHAN??? 

A ND U DIDNT TELL US?? 

EXPLAIN LEE JENO 

**jen**

??? im literally.. not?? 

what tf r u talking abt jaem 

**headache #1**

(link) 

LOOK 

jeno clicks on the link and it takes him to donghyuck’s instagram story. it’s a photo of him and donghyuck squeezed into the frame, jeno’s eyes are crinkled into half-moons and donghyuck has his nose scrunched up in a way that shouldn’t be as cute as it is. their cheeks are pressed together and jeno thinks they look like a couple. which is good, cause that’s what they are. the text underneath that reads, _video with my special someone coming soon!!!_

**jen**

oh 

he wasn’t supposed to post that until thursday 

secret’s out i guess 

surprise..? 

**headache #1**

WHAT THE FCUK LEE JENO 

HAECHANS UR "SPECIAL SOMEONE”???? 

AND U DIDNT TELL US ?? 

**headache #2**

^^^^^^^^ 

**jen**

well yeah 

isn’t that great 

**headache #2**

we’re coming over asap because u have a hell lot of explaining to do Jeno Lee 

**jen**

aren’t you in class? 

**headache #2**

and?? my point still stands 

staring at renjun’s last text, jeno lets out a sigh. 

/

which brings jeno back to his current situation, on the way to his shared apartment with jaemin and renjun, donghyuck by his side. honestly, jeno would have much rather gone alone and deal with the multitude of questions that would follow but his best friends insisted that donghyuck has to come too, leaving jeno with no other choice than complying. 

he has no idea how this’ll go, considering how this the first time renjun and jaemin are actually meeting donghyuck, and the only proper thing they know about him is that he’s jeno’s _boyfriend_. jeno feels kinda weird to refer to donghyuck has his boyfriend – albeit fake – but he’ll have to get used to it quickly enough, he wouldn’t want to give it all away two weeks into their plan. 

“okay, so just a fair warning,” jeno tells donghyuck, voice a little strained, “my friends kinda have like, no chill. so sorry in advance if they bombard you with questions.” 

donghyucks lets out a laugh, loud and bright, and says, “they sound great, jen. besides, i bet my friends are ten times worse.” 

“yeah?” jeno challenges. 

“i mean, you be the judge. they wanna meet you too, by the way, but like, i’ve managed to get them to be a little more patient,” donghyuck replies. jeno tenses at that and donghyuck notices because he rushes to add, “they’re not too bad or anything, i promise. i mean you know xuxi, right? mark’s _way_ better. trust me.” 

jeno wants to argue that it’s not the same – it's really not, jeno knew yukhei as a temporary roommate, not like a _friend_ friend, jeno doesn’t think they have much in common, anyway. when he tells as much to donghyuck, donghyuck lets out a little gasp. “xuxi’s gonna be devastated when he hears this, jen. he’s been thinking that the two of you were besties.” 

“shut up,” jeno tells donghyuck with no heat. maybe a few weeks ago jeno would’ve rushed out an apology and retracted what he said (he probably wouldn’t have said it in the first place), but he’s already gotten used to donghyuck’s teasing to pay any heed. “you know that’s not what i mean. besides, if we weren’t roommates, we wouldn’t even be friends.” 

“isn’t that the same for all friendships, though? if you hadn’t lent me your notes, we probably wouldn’t have spoken either, you know.” jeno rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue. “and you guys do have stuff in common, y’all both are gym rats or whatever.” 

jeno can’t escape the incredulous laugh that escapes his lips. “gym rats?” 

“yeah,” donghyuck tells him like it’s the most obvious thing ever, “you both work out regularly, i mean, _look_ at you.” 

jeno tries not to smile (it doesn’t work). “look at me?” he repeats, raising a brow at donghyuck, breaking into a teasing smile. he hopes it isn’t just him seeing things, but he’s pretty sure donghyuck’s face grows a shade pinker. “don’t make me actually say it,” donghyuck says, voice more strained than normal. there’s a pleading lilt in his tone but jeno thinks it’s about time that someone clowns donghyuck too. 

“say what?” jeno asks innocently. 

“i hate you,” donghyuck groans out, “let’s break up.” 

jeno lets out a laugh – like an actual full body laugh – and he feels like meeting renjun and jaemin doesn’t feel so nerve-wracking anymore. 

. 

okay so maybe jeno is a bit of a liar. 

they’re both standing outside of the apartment – _jeno's_ apartment – but he can’t find it within himself to actually ring the doorbell. typically, donghyuck would have teased him a little for it, but he’s unusually quiet too. 

“i’m gonna do it,” jeno tells him, and he makes eye contact to see how donghyuck’s feeling. they both ignore how it’s the third time jeno has said that _he’s really gonna do it_. 

“go for it,” donghyuck replies, straightening his shoulders, “how bad could it be?” jeno considers donghyuck’s words for a moment and he realises that he’s right. how _bad_ could it be? according to what their friends know (consisting entirely of the fake backstory donghyuck and him made up during a lecture where neither of them were paying attention), donghyuck asked jeno out about three weeks ago so there isn’t much they have to fabricate anyway. 

when jeno actually rings the doorbell, it takes about a moment before the door opens, revealing jaemin who looks way too eager for jeno to not assume that he’s definitely plotting something. “ah! the lovebirds have finally arrived!” exclaims jaemin, as he steps aside for them to come in, “welcome to our humble abode, renjun and i have been dying to meet you.” he directs the last bit to donghyuck who has a bright smile on his face. 

“i literally live here, you know,” jeno deadpans. jaemin decides to ignore him and instead focuses on fussing over donghyuck’s coat. amazingly, despite jaemin’s theatricalities, donghyuck still has a genuine smile plastered on his face as he lets jaemin take his coat from him. 

renjun makes his appearance from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of steaming _jjajangmyeon_ into the living room. “wow, the food looks amazing,” donghyuck marvels from jeno’s side, eyes shining, at the same time jeno asks, “did you get doyoung hyung to send you that?” 

renjun shoots jeno a glare before promptly turning to donghyuck, a pleased smile at on his face. jeno resists the urge to roll his eyes. for a moment, jeno feels that jaemin and renjun are trying to impress _donghyuck_ instead of the other way round. he feels his nerves relax just a little. 

“well,” jeno begins, pulling donghyuck closer to him. he tried not to fixate too much on how donghyuck immediately intertwines their fingers. “jaemin and renjun, this is my boyfriend, donghyuck. and babe, meet the two banes of my existence, jaemin and renjun.” 

“i can’t believe you’re already slandering us in front of your new boyfriend,” renjun says, feigning mock offense, “seven years of friendship, all down the drain.” 

“shut up,” jeno tells him, but he can’t help the fond smile that tugs at the corners of his lips when donghyuck lets out a snort. 

(when they’re all settling down around the way too cramped dining table, donghyuck pulls jeno aside for a moment and jeno notes how his eyes are still shining with mirth. “ _babe?”_ he teases, referencing the pet name that slipped out earlier. 

“ah - um, it just came out,” jeno mumbles, ignoring how red the tip of his ears must be. 

“well, i liked it. it’s cute,” is what donghyuck tells him, squeezing jeno’s hand for just a fleeting moment. then, he lets go and strikes up a conversation with jaemin, as if that entire exchange didn’t happen and jeno’s left to sort out his increasingly beating heart and flushed cheeks by himself.) 

. 

dinner goes a little bit like this: 

jaemin’s retelling the story about how the three of them first met and jeno normally would pay attention to what he’s saying, but he’s a little distracted by how donghyuck looks like when he’s paying a great deal of attention, eyes wide and shining. 

“and then,” jaemin continues between bites of his _japchae,_ “for some reason my keys weren’t working and i was drunk out of my mind, so i kinda just forced my way through the door. pretty sure i broke the lock but i was so tired that i just passed out on the couch. the next morning, i woke up with a splitting headache and also came to realise that this definitely was not my apartment.” 

“you broke into a stranger’s place _and_ broke his door?” donghyuck asks, sounding all too delighted. 

“injunie didn’t even notice until i came over in the afternoon and found some random dude knocked out on his couch,” jeno interjects. 

renjun scowls. “don't blame me, i was high as fuck. anyway, he paid me back for the lock so it got sorted out anyway.” 

“you didn’t kick him out?” donghyuck asks. 

renjun opens his mouth to reply but jaemin beats him to it. “he thought i was too handsome to kick out.” a smug smile spreads on jaemin’s lips and renjun pinches his arm in lieu of a reply, emitting a yelp from him. at the same time, jeno mumbles, “you looked like death, fyi. don’t flatter yourself.” 

jaemin frowns at that, complaining, “injun, be a good boyfriend and tell jeno to shut up.” 

jeno lets out a snort. then he remembers that he, too, supposedly has a boyfriend to defend his honour. “hyuck, be a good boyfriend and tell jaemin to shut up.” 

“i’m dating an overgrown child,” donghyuck mutters, and jeno feigns mock offense. jaemin smirks at him and gives him a look to say, _haha_ _, loser,_ but then renjun shakes his head and agrees with donghyuck, saying, “you and me both, man.” jeno tries to bite back the urge to snicker when the shit-eating smile falls from jaemin’s face. 

when renjun and jaemin begin bickering again, jeno catches donghyuck’s eye and mouths, _you’ll get used to it_. the smile donghyuck sends him back could rival the sun and for a moment, jeno wishes he could bask in it. but he doesn’t want to make his heart-eyes for donghyuck even more obvious so he tears his eyes away, a ghost of a smile never leaving his lips. 

(none of this does any good to jeno’s futile attempts to forget about his crush on donghyuck, by the way.) 

. 

the night ends like how jeno expected it to. 

jaemin and renjun end up liking donghyuck probably more than they like jeno and to be fair, jeno doesn’t think he could blame them anyway. they all exchange numbers and make a group chat which jaemin has already started to blow up with texts of when they should meet up next. this both horrifies and delights jeno; A) because now, he’s sure the three of them are going to become even _more_ insufferable with their combined energy, and B) it means that maybe donghyuck is going to become somewhat of a more permanent figure in his life, even past all the fake dating thing. 

“it’s getting late,” jeno tells donghyuck after jaemin and renjun have gone back inside, “i’ll walk you home.” 

“you don’t have to,” donghyuck insists and jeno pouts at him, but it seems like even his best puppy dog eyes aren’t going to work. donghyuck’s eyes soften and he takes jeno’s hand gingerly, giving it a light squeeze. “come on, you big baby. i’m not letting you walk all the way to my place at this hour but i’ll let you see me off.” 

jeno nods at what he says absent-mindedly, trying not to pay too much attention to how soft donghyuck’s hand feels in his. it’s probably the doing of some hand lotion donghyuck must use. he’s feeling a little brave tonight, so jeno squeezes donghyuck a little tighter in response. 

“tonight went a lot better than expected,” donghyuck tells him honestly. “not gonna lie, i was super nervous at first but your friends are really nice.” 

jeno resists the urge to protest. “overbearing is the word i’d use.” 

donghyuck snorts, “i’m being serious, jen.” 

“i know, and for what it’s worth, they like you a lot, too. you have that effect on people.” he doesn’t mean to let that last part out, but he does, and it’s too late to take it back. donghyuck gives him a look that makes his skin prickle. 

“yeah?” donghyuck asks, his voice a little softer. 

“yeah,” jeno replies, just as soft. “you’re kind of impossible not to like, hyuck.” and maybe jeno’s just hearing things, but donghyuck’s breath hitches audibly and there’s a look in his eyes that jeno doesn’t know how to decipher. suddenly, the tension in the air is a little too thick and – 

donghyuck punches jeno’s arm, and it doesn’t really hurt – donghyuck could barely hurt a fly even if he tried – but it’s the suddenness of it that causes jeno to let out a groan. “what the fuck, dude?” he complains, incredulous. 

“i can’t _believe_ you’re going all sappy on me and the cameras aren’t even on,” donghyuck mumbles out, hitting his arm again, a lot more half-heartedly. his brows are furrowed and jeno knows he isn’t just seeing things when he notices that donghyuck’s blushing. 

despite himself, jeno lets out a laugh that’s a little too loud for where they’re at right now – at the gate of jeno’s apartment complex at 10PM on a wednesday night. “now you’re laughing? you’re awful, jeno,” donghyuck complains but there is no actual bite behind his words and he must know this too because a small smile tugs at the corner of his lips. 

and jeno, well, he doesn’t know what to make of this interaction because even though whatever tension that lingered in the air had completely dissolved, there was still a lumpy sort of feeling in his throat like there’s something more to this that he doesn’t understand. something more in the way donghyuck looked at him, even if it was for a moment – as if jeno was something worth cherishing. he wants to know what donghyuck is thinking, what all of _this_ is – there isn’t any audience here to witness any of it – so is it just for them? is this one of those precious and fleeting moments that jeno will guard within his heart and remember when it’s way too late at night? 

regardless, jeno lets this train of thought go and bids donghyuck goodbye, going back home feeling a lot more out of his depth than before. 

/

one day jeno finishes class and notices he’s suddenly gotten about two thousand new follow requests on instagram. for a moment he doesn’t understand what could’ve caused this until he checks the date and realises it’s february fourteenth and donghyuck must’ve uploaded the video. 

speak of the devil, donghyuck picks that exact moment to call jeno. “hi, hyuck, what’s up?” 

“your last class just ended, right?” jeno hums in agreement and donghyuck continues, “great! i’ll come and pick you up then. gimme a few minutes.” 

“wait, where are we going?” jeno asks, confused. he doesn’t remember donghyuck telling him they had to film today. 

“that’s a surprise,” donghyuck replies, and faintly, jeno hears a door shut. “i’ll meet you at the cafe nearest to campus.” then he hangs up. jeno finds himself not particularly minding the sudden change of plans. it’s not like he had anything planned for today anyway. 

true to his word, donghyuck shows up ten minutes later except instead of in a car like jeno had presumed, he shows up on a motorcycle. 

“hop on, jen,” donghyuck chirps at him, taking off his helmet. jeno hasn’t noticed how long donghyuck’s bangs have gotten and the helmet made it more ruffled than usual and jeno thinks it’s unfair how good he looks. donghyuck’s even wearing a black leather jacket and jeno can’t help but feel a little underdressed. 

“what’s all this?” 

donghyuck raises a brow before he gets what jeno means. “gotta look good for our date, you know?” 

jeno laughs at that. “but i haven’t gotten dressed, dude. i’m literally wearing a plain tee.” 

“you look perfect though,” he tells jeno, genuine. and jeno doesn’t know what to say so he just mumbles out a weak, _that’s gay, bro_. donghyuck laughs good naturedly before passing him the spare helmet which happens to be a pink _my melody_ helmet. that’s when he notices that donghyuck’s helmet has a kuromi design too. 

jeno raises a brow and donghyuck rushes to defend himself. “it adds personality and we can match too!” 

“whatever you say, man” jeno replies, biting back a smile. he puts the helmet on and gets on the motorcycle. he contemplates putting his arms around donghyuck’s waist but decides against it. that is, until donghyuck starts the engine and slams his foot on the pedal. 

“do you even know how to drive this thing?” jeno hisses at donghyuck, wrapping his arms around the other’s torso for dear life. 

donghyuck ignores him, instead telling him to hold on tight which in retrospect would’ve been a lot more useful to know a moment ago. jeno doesn’t pay attention to how long the ride is because he’s too preoccupied with ensuring he doesn’t somehow fall off. he may not have a motorcycle license but he knows that donghyuck has to be going over the speed limit. 

“remind me to never get on a motorcycle with you ever again,” jeno tells him the moment they get off. donghyuck snickers at him because he’s an asshole. “you do know we have to ride this to get back, right?” jeno chooses to ignore him and instead looks around. 

“we’re at the han river?” jeno usually came here with jaemin during their breaks to go bike riding (they invite renjun too but he always tells them they’re insane for exercising for _fun_ ). he didn’t think someone like donghyuck would enjoy coming here, too. 

“my super secret intel told me that bike riding is your ideal first date, so here we are.” 

something tells jeno that the intel in question was probably one na jaemin but he lets it slide, appreciating the attention to detail regardless. besides, it’s been ages since jeno had the time to take a bike ride so this is nice, this date is nice. donghyuck is nice. 

the two of them rent one of those couple bikes and all is well until about fifteen minutes into the bike trail. while jeno is taking in the breathtaking scenery, donghyuck isn’t boding too well. “i’m literally dying,” donghyuck complains, heaving. “jeno, i think my heart is going to explode.” 

“that’s a good thing, hyuck. it means your body is burning off calories” jeno tells him, unfazed by the other’s dramatics. 

at one point jeno is pretty sure that donghyuck isn’t even pedalling anymore and when he calls him out on it, donghyuck tells him, “just because you never skip leg day doesn’t mean i never did.” 

it’s only when they’re on the way back to campus, long after the sun has set that jeno realises that donghyuck hasn’t filmed anything. when jeno reminds him as such, donghyuck brushes it off saying he wasn’t planning on recording a vlog anyway. 

“but then what was all this for?” jeno still feels confused, like he isn’t getting something. 

“it’s valentine's day, right? i wanted us to do something fun together. just ‘cause.” 

“oh,” jeno mumbles, “cool.” 

donghyuck raises a brow at him, frowning a little. “is everything alright?” jeno nods at him, offering a small smile. that must reassure donghyuck because he’s beaming again and pulls at jeno’s arm. “let’s grab dinner, i’m starving and i know a really nice place downtown.” 

/

[ **I** **Found A Person Willing To Tolerate Me (Gone Wholesome) (Not Clickbait)** ] 

_Posted 16 hours ago | 668k Views_

_Hide Comments_

**deryplays** can’t believe haechans first video revealing his bf is actually just flexing the fact that hes in a happy relationship for fifteen minutes 

**yangyangissocoollike** exactlyy next time add a TW HAPPY COUPLE pls 

**haechans** **left eyebrow** when and where can i get a jeno for myself too. this isnt fair 

**Gemma R** im so happy for them omg they look like they like each other sm :(( 

**applepi** did you see the way haechan was staring at jeno at 8:38??? if that’s not love i dont know what is holy shit 

**Gemma R** righttt i want what they have 

**o** **h** **c** **a** **n** **a** **d** **a** haechan is gay? what the hell 

**Phillip** dudes been a shinee fanboy since he was ten. its on you for even assuming he was straight to begin with 

**haechan stan (derogatory)** LMAOOO 

**haechan** **wife** seems like i have competition huh 

**Tom Nook** guys guys .. do yall think jeno is the guy haechan had mentioned in a few of his lives?? it has to be right?? 

**sunflower** i mean he matches the desc perfectly.... hes pretty and super kind. omfg if he is then that would be so cute 

**Yuta Nakamoto** oh to be young and in love 

**Dongyoung** **Kim** you are literally 26 

/

renjun’s the first person to find out. 

jeno meant it when he said that he wouldn’t tell either jaemin or renjun about the fact that he isn’t _really_ dating donghyuck, but renjun’s always been the observant type. and maybe jeno’s also really easy to read. 

in his defence, when he took up donghyuck’s fake dating offer, he agreed thinking it would be a nice opportunity to spice up his life and also spend more time with donghyuck. and while that’s definitely worked (not only does donghyuck take it upon himself to drag jeno to whatever new activity he wants to participate, it’s gotten to a point where jeno actually is invested in the pottery workshop they attend every wednesday), jeno didn’t expect that he’d grow to like donghyuck more than he already does. 

what jeno can say with full confidence is that he’s definitely an idiot. maybe he got too confident when he realised he was pretty good at not analysing his interactions with donghyuck any more than he needs to, but after that day at the han river, jeno’s been more pensive than usual. 

the fates are being exceptionally cruel by letting him experience how dating donghyuck would be like – being able to go on silly dates and film videos together – except that the catch is that he’s fully aware that none of this is _real_. donghyuck isn’t actually his boyfriend and he doesn’t like jeno in that way either. _right?_ and that’s yet another thing that’s been bugging him. 

his mind wanders off to a few days ago when donghyuck invited jeno over to bake cookies with him over the phone because in his words, he _can’t be trusted with an oven without adult supervision._ jeno countered that with how he was a little over two months older than him but showed up anyway. there were no cameras, no glaringly bright ring lights and no audience to provide witty banter for. that afternoon belonged to no one but the two of them. 

they’ve been doing that a lot, jeno muses while he’s lying flat on his bed. donghyuck would bring jeno along to do things for no other purpose than to simply spend time with him. and sure, friends go on dates all the time but friends don’t hold hands when walking on the streets, friends don’t steal glances at each other when they think the other isn’t looking. jeno can be dense, but he’s not _that_ dense and for a moment he lets himself believe that maybe donghyuck likes him too. 

then, jeno remembers last night. he rolls on his bed and groans into his pillow. _last night_ , jeno thinks bitterly. 

(it started off pretty normal, jeno has a movie night with donghyuck at his place and it ends with jeno staying over because it’s getting late and donghyuck already has the futon ready for jeno beside his own bed. it’s only after they’ve both gone to bed and a comfortable silence has settled between them does jeno decide to open his mouth and basically ruin everything. 

it was probably the fatigue getting him to him when he asks, “hyuck?” 

donghyuck hums in response. jeno thinks he probably still has his eyes closed. 

“do you like anyone?” he regrets it the moment he asks. 

donghyuck’s breathes in sharply and neither of them say anything for way too long. jeno prays that there’s a chance donghyuck didn’t hear what he said but even he knows that’s just wishful thinking. after what seems like forever, donghyuck replies, “where’s this coming from?” 

jeno swallows the lump in his throat. “just curious, i guess.” 

“well, there’s this guy,” donghyuck begins and jeno feels his heart sink. “i’ve seen him around campus and he’s nice. like, really nice, even though our conversations had always been short. until recently, of course, but – it's whatever.” 

“why don’t you just ask him out?” 

donghyuck doesn’t reply for a moment before he mumbles, “do you think he’d say yes?” 

jeno is at a loss of what to say. the selfish half of him wants to say, _no, he’d turn you down_ and _don’t waste your time_ but the other half that’s too considerate for his own good says, _of course he would, have you_ seen _yourself? who wouldn’t say yes?_ ultimately, he decides with the latter. 

“really?” jeno can’t see donghyuck in the dark but he knows the other is smiling. he doesn’t know why that makes him feel even worse than before. “thanks, jeno. you always know what to say.”) 

jeno thinks he must be his own enemy because if he ever had any actual chance with donghyuck, they must be completely out of the window now that donghyuck’s practically confirmed that he’s going to make a move on his mystery boy. 

when jeno’s deep in thought about who exactly this guy could it be (was it yangyang? oh my god, it’s totally yangyang) he fails to notice renjun peering through his door and giving jeno, who was currently lying face down on bed, an unimpressed look. 

“what’s with you?” renjun asks finally. “you’ve been acting weird since yesterday.” 

jeno refuses to make eye contact with renjun, knowing that the elder would be able to see right through him just with a single glance. what he doesn’t know is that renjun can tell when he’s bluffing with or without making direct eye contact “what are you talking about,” is what jeno settles for as an excuse. “i’m tired. i literally just came back from the gym.” 

that part isn’t a lie because jeno _did_ come back from the gym but renjun’s been jeno’s friend since they were in diapers. besides, jeno’s always been a shitty liar. “you and i both know you always feel weirdly energetic after your work outs. so, what’s up? and don’t you dare lie to me.” 

jeno lets out a groan and renjun smiles slightly knowing he’s won this one. jeno rolls to his side until he’s looking right at renjun and gives him the most troubled expression he can manage, hoping to convey his woes via best friend telepathy. 

it works a little because renjun tilts his head to the side and asks, “trouble in paradise?” 

“i like donghyuck.” 

“i mean, i’d hope so. you _are_ dating him –” 

“i’m not,” jeno interrupts. “dating him, that is. it – it's all pretend.” 

renjun gives him a blank look. jeno notices the exact moment when renjun’s brain registers what jeno just said because his eyes widen and his lips part, like he wants to say something. jeno bites his lip, wondering if renjun’s gonna laugh at him or tell him he’s an idiot, or both. not that he doesn’t deserve it. 

“oh, jen,” he says finally, sitting on the bed beside jeno. he reaches his hand out and jeno thinks renjun is going to ruffle his hair or something until he feels a sharp pain on his forehead. renjun, in typical renjun behaviour, just flicked his head. _hard_. 

“ _injun_ , what the hell was that for,” jeno hisses, rubbing at the inflicted spot. 

“you’re probably the dumbest person i’ve ever met.” renjun looks annoyed but jeno knows him well enough to know that’s just the face renjun makes when he’s trying to express concern. “tell me everything that’s going on or else i’ll tell jaemin.” 

“you wouldn’t,” jeno gasps. na jaemin is a lot of things; a leo, jeno’s other best friend, and also the least subtle person in existence. and if jaemin finds out, jeno will give it a day before the whole campus knows it as well. 

renjun narrows his eyes in a way that tells jeno, yes, he actually would. 

sighing, jeno tells renjun everything. not _everything_ everything, but everything that’s important. he tells him about binging _FULLSUN_ videos, about the april fool’s prank, about their not- _not dates_ and by the end of it all, jeno kind of wants to hide in a blanket burrito forever. (what he leaves out is the possibility of donghyuck requiting any of his feelings. if anyone’s gonna flat out tell jeno he’s delusional for thinking that way, he doesn’t want it to be renjun.) he never thought coming clean to his best friend about his own personal drama could be so mentally taxing. 

“when are you going to tell donghyuck you can’t follow through with the whole fake-dating thing?” renjun asks him. 

“what?” 

renjun gives him a disapproving look. “there's no way you’re actually continuing this, right? it’s not healthy for you, jeno.” 

jeno fakes a laugh. “april first is only a month away, i’ll be fine. plus, he’s not forcing me to do any of this. i’m only doing it because i want to.” 

renjun still doesn’t look too pleased but he doesn’t say anything, although the look of disappointment he shoots jeno before he leaving leaves a pang of discomfort settling in jeno’s gut. 

/

**clout chaser**

i think renjun hates me 

hes been glaring at me nonstop during our lecture 

do u think its becuz i beat him at mario cart last week 

glancing at the text from donghyuck, jeno feels his blood run cold. he knew jaemin was shit at concealing his feelings but renjun too? something tells jeno that renjun’s doing this on purpose, just to be petty. 

**taurus**

huang renjun 

**aries**

jeno lee 

**taurus**

are you literally six years old 

why r u glowering at hyuck 

**aries**

thats just my face 

**taurus**

fuck you 

**aries**

rude 

ok fine ill stop 

but 

i still dont approve 

**taurus**

i know 

but im fine i promise 

just.. let me figure this one on my own ok? 

**aries**

fine 

**taurus**

also i didnt know u lost to hyuck at mario kart 

LMAOOO loser 

**aries**

fuck you too 

/ 

jeno lives with the knowledge that donghyuck likes someone else as best as he can. 

by that he means that sometimes when he’s doing things that allow his mind to idle, he can’t help but think of who that mystery guy could be. (it isn’t yangyang as he previously suspected because yangyang’s apparently dating some dude called dejun and jeno doesn’t know whether this revelation makes him more nervous or relieved.) 

jeno isn’t the jealous type and he stands by that, it’s just that curiosity happens to get the better of him one night after he’s done finishing up all his assignments. renjun and jaemin are out getting takeout for the three of them so jeno thinks he probably has nothing better to do when he opens up a new google tab and types in _Haechan_ _Lee Boyfriend._ just for extra measure, he turns on incognito mode. 

that takes him a couple of clickbait articles with blurry photos and jeno’s pretty sure that some of them aren’t even of donghyuck. he only hits the jackpot when he finds a link to a youtube video from an account called _haechanarchives_. it’s an older instagram live, jeno realises, if donghyuck’s hair being dyed orange instead of his current blonde is any indicator. 

the post is captioned _haechan_ _120819_ _ig l_ _ive_ which proves jeno’s theory that this was from almost half a year ago. “haechanie, when are you going to get a boyfriend,” donghyuck reads. jeno realises he’s reading questions from his viewers, his brows furrowed as he looks through the influx of comments. “wow, very touching to see how concerned you guys are for my love life,” donghyuck deadpans, but the mirth in his eyes indicates he’s only joking. 

but answering the one question about his love life only introduces a flood of new comments eagerly prodding donghyuck further. “do you at least have a crush?” is the next question donghyuck reads aloud and he sticks out his tongue like he’s in deep thought. 

ultimately, donghyuck sighs and gives the camera a look that says, _f_ _ine, you all win_. “there _is_ someone...” donghyuck’s voice trails off as a shade of pink fills in his cheeks. 

just like that, the comments go wild yet again and jeno himself could barely get the chance to read some of them before they were replaced by another equally excited comment. the main gist of them all were basically along the lines of _WHO IS HE????_ and _HAECHAN DO U HAVE A SECRET BOYFRIEND!!!!_

“nice try but i’m not going to tell y’all who he is,” donghyuck tells the camera, a small smile tugging on his lips. “besides, i don’t know him that well anyway. i mainly see him around campus, but – objectively speaking – he has to be the prettiest person i’ve ever seen.” 

donghyuck sounds absolutely smitten and jeno suddenly doesn’t feel like watching this video anymore. 

fortunately, that’s when jaemin and renjun return to the apartment carrying bags of takeout in their hands. they come home to the sight of jeno curled up on the couch with a small frown on his face. renjun can already tell what it’s about and goes to set up the table while jaemin offers jeno a concerned look. “why do you look like a puppy that just got kicked?” 

“i do not,” jeno grumbles. 

renjun only shrugs when jaemin meets his eye and jaemin presumes it’s probably not that big of a deal. 

/ 

jeno knows he’s fucked up when na jaemin out of all people is the second person to catch on. 

“jeno, can i talk to you for a sec?” jaemin asks and jeno freezes. he has known jaemin for the better part of two years and he knows him well enough to be able to tell that that’s a very un-jaemin-like thing to say. jaemin doesn’t want to talk, he wants to _talk._

gulping, jeno nods. gingerly, jaemin takes his hand and jeno still has no idea what the fuck is going on as they move from the dining table where they were studying to the couch. jaemin opens his mouth to speak and jeno panics, blurting out, “how much did renjun tell you!” 

“huh?” jaemin doesn’t get the chance to finish before jeno interrupts him yet again. “i don’t know what renjun told you, but i’m a grown adult and i can solve my own problems by myself.” he tries to sound as calm and collected as possible but even jeno knows he’s not selling the image very well. 

“also please spare me from the whole ‘i’m so disappointed in you jeno lee’ spiel because renjun’s gotten that message across loud and clear like you have no idea how well he can make someone feel guilty and–” 

“hey, jeno?” jaemin says suddenly and the abruptness of it draws jeno out of whatever he was rambling about. 

“yeah?” he asks tentatively. 

“shut the fuck up.” and he does, much to jaemin’s relief. “i literally have no idea what you’re talking about, dude. now, what was i saying? ah, yes.” jaemin looks back at jeno and his expression has turned serious and jeno can already feel the disapproving lecture coming up. 

“i didn’t really want to bring this up, but i can’t simply let this go on without interfering,” jaemin says cautiously before pausing. “jeno lee, are you cheating on donghyuck?” 

the question is so unbelievably ridiculous that jeno doesn’t even know how to respond. he gapes at jaemin as a strangled sort of sound comes out from the back of his throat. jaemin takes this reaction as a negative because he sighs and frowns at jeno in a way that makes him feel like he’s done very wrong. “seriously, jeno? you may be my best friend but that’s a really shitty thing to do, man. i never expected this from you.” 

jeno presumes it’s probably the absurdity of the situation that causes him to burst out laughing. jaemin’s brows knit together and he gives jeno an incredulous look like he can’t fathom what’s happening right now. “there’s nothing funny about this situation, jeno, how would donghyuck feel when he finds out?” 

“how would donghyuck feel when he figures what out?” asks renjun who just came into the living room. 

“renjun!” jaemin exclaims, looking at his boyfriend like he’s the voice of reason he’s been desperately seeking. “i’m confronting jeno about the _thing_. please back me up when i say what jeno is doing is by no means acceptable.” 

“that’s what _i_ was telling him.” renjun sighs in relief and shoots jeno a smug look. 

jeno can’t believe whatever the is going on. “what are you talking about?” he snaps at renjun. last time he checked, he has never cheated on donghyuck, and renjun knows this. 

“what are _you_ talking about,” jaemin retorts. 

jeno’s just about had enough of this so he turns to renjun and says, “jaemin thinks i’m cheating on donghyuck. care to tell me why?” 

the crease between renjun’s eyebrows smoothen and he has a blank look on his face. that is, until he turns to jaemin who still looks confused, and grits his teeth. he smacks the back of jaemin’s head, emitting a yelp from said boy. “babe, that hurt,” he whines. 

“jaemin, you dumbass, did you listen to _anything_ i told you yesterday?” renjun grits out, eyes flashing dangerously. 

“you _told_ him?” 

renjun’s eyes soften. he flashes jeno an apologetic look and that’s enough for jeno to get mad. like, actually mad to the extent that he gets up abruptly, drawing attention of both jaemin and renjun. “where are you going–” asks jaemin but he’s not listening. jeno’s ears are ringing and they continue to do so as he storms out of the apartment. jeno lets the door slam behind him just to convey how mad he is. 

(actually, jeno lets the door slam in theory. in practice, he stops the door from shutting in time before closing it gently. his neighbour is a nice old lady who's a light sleeper and the last thing jeno needs is to bear with the guilt of disturbing her sleep because of him.) 

/

“can i sleep on your couch?” 

donghyuck stares at jeno, unblinking. jeno didn’t mean to turn up at donghyuck’s place but he wasn’t really thinking where he was going to stay the night when he left his apartment, and it’s not like he’s going to be returning anytime soon. donghyuck looks like he’s hesitating for a moment before a small smile spreads on his lips and he steps aside for jeno to come in. “yeah, of course. the futon is basically yours at this point.” 

thankfully, donghyuck doesn’t ask him what’s wrong and jeno is glad because he doesn’t know to tell him that said boy is the reason this little fight broke out in the first place. _no,_ jeno thinks, _this is all_ _renjun’s_ _fault._

donghyuck makes instant noodles for the two of them and they eat on donghyuck’s lumpy couch as an episode of some drama donghyuck was watching plays in the background. donghyuck makes silly commentary that makes jeno smile so wide his mouth hurts. 

all is well. 

except, donghyuck is a lot more intuitive than he lets on and of course he’d find a way to bring up his concern. when they’re brushing their teeth (jeno’s stayed over so many times that he already has a toothbrush just for him. it’s green and it sits beside donghyuck’s pink one), donghyuck gives jeno a cautious glance, like he’s nervous about something. 

“did anything happen with your roommates?” jeno can’t say he didn’t expect the question, but it still catches him off guard. 

“um,” jeno begins, biting his lower lip. “renjun kinda pissed me off and i don’t really feel like talking to him right now.” 

donghyuck lets out an understanding hum. he finishes drying his face with a towel and passes another dry one to jeno. “it happens,” is what donghyuck tells him, gentle. he doesn't prod or ask anything else and jeno is grateful. 

it’s only when donghyuck turns off the light to his room that jeno gets the inexplicable urge to tell donghyuck what’s wrong. “sometimes i feel like my friends don’t think i can take care of myself.” donghyuck doesn’t say anything and jeno continues, “i know they care about me and whatever, but it gets kind of suffocating at times. i know, it’s-” 

“don’t finish that sentence,” donghyuck cuts him off, a certain firmness to his voice. “what you’re saying isn’t dumb. if it’s bothering you, it has to be important.” 

jeno remains silent. at this point, jeno presumes that he’s not even mad at renjun anymore. instead, he feels a weird kind of emptiness settle inside. “it’s hard to tell when you’re the one being overbearing, and something tells me that if you told them about how you felt, they’ll get it.” 

jeno reaches his hand out and he meets donghyuck’s halfway in lieu of a reply. their fingers intertwine and donghyuck gives his hand a comforting squeeze. it relieves him of his worries – a lot more than it should, but jeno will let himself have this. just this night. 

(they fall asleep like that, fingers pressed together. he doesn’t know when he rolls off the futon and ends up on donghyuck’s bed, and neither of them make mention of it in the morning.) 

/

jeno assures donghyuck that he’ll talk it out with renjun. 

(he doesn’t.) 

(he means to, of course. except, jeno can’t remember the last time renjun and him fought and he’s not stubborn or anything like that – more like he doesn’t exactly know how to forgive someone who hasn’t even apologised. 

donghyuck sighs and says, “how will renjun apologise if you don’t even give him the opportunity to?” 

jeno falters. he wants to protest, say _that’s not true_. but it is. renjun blows up his phone with unanswered texts and missed calls and jeno pretends like he doesn’t notice. he sits next to a group of people he never talks to during their shared lectures and slips away before renjun can confront him. renjun would call him a coward – probably has, in one of those strongly worded texts he’s been sending – and jeno would agree.) 

(he misses his best friend.) 

on the fourth day, donghyuck stages an intervention. 

jeno has just returned from work and he’s sweaty and uncomfortable and would like nothing more than to take a nice long shower. but when he opens the door to donghyuck’s apartment, said donghyuck blocks his way, giving him a pointed look. 

“go and talk to him.” 

“are you kicking me out?” jeno asks. he’s not upset that donghyuck’s doing this. in a way, he’s kind of glad that there’s someone pushing him to do what he meant to do two days ago. not that he’ll admit it, though. 

“no. once you fix things with renjun, you’re welcomed to stay as long as you’d like.” donghyuck’s voice is still firm, but there’s a certain kindness to it. like he’s doing jeno a favour which, well, he is. 

jeno doesn’t have an excuse this time. 

. 

**aries**

jen im sorry 

i shouldnt have done that 

can we talk? 

**aries**

jeno where are u?? 

pick up your phone 

its urgent 

i know you’re seeing these texts 

**aries**

lee jeno you are a coward 

i saw u run away after class u arent slick 

**aries**

now im actually mad at you 

be prepared for the next time i see u bastard 

**taurus**

hi 

im at the apartment 

lets talk 

/ 

“i’m sorry,” is what renjun tells him at the same time jeno mumbles, “sorry.” 

the two of them look up and jeno can’t help the gentle tug of his lips upwards. 

“i didn’t tell jaemin anything,” renjun starts quietly. “that’s what i wanted to tell you earlier.” 

jeno blinks, once, twice, and he feels dumb. he didn’t even give renjun the chance to explain himself before storming off and guilt pools in his gut. “i’m still sorry, though. i shouldn’t have been so passive aggressive the whole time.” 

“well, i’m sorry too. i didn’t give you the chance to explain and – it's really fucking weird apologizing to you of all people,” jeno says despite himself. renjun’s expression softens as he manages a small smile. “i can’t even remember the last time we fought. it was probably over something dumb.” 

jeno laughs. “yeah.” 

“so, am i forgiven?” renjun shoots jeno a hopeful look and jeno scoffs. 

“obviously.” jeno doesn’t tell renjun this, but he thinks he already forgave the older boy within the first twenty-four hours. he’s never really been the type to hold grudges anyway. 

“jaemin still doesn’t know anything, but if you want –” 

“you can tell him.” 

renjun makes a noise of surprise. jeno goes on to say, “it was dumb trying to hide it from him, anyway. and if he found out any other way he’d probably feel like we’re leaving him out on purpose.” 

“are we not?” renjun is joking, but jeno rolls his eyes anyway. 

“i’m gonna tell him the truth and also that you said that.” he tries to bite down a smile as renjun smacks his arm, hissing, _you’re a menace._

/ 

**clout chaser**

guessing it went well? 

**the clout in question**

yeah 

how did u know? 

**clout chaser**

gut feeling babe 

**the clout in question**

lying isnt a good look on u 

**clout chaser**

fine. wtv 

renjun challenged me to another game of mario kart 

without looking like he wanted to kill me 

which is progress !! 

**the clout in question**

the both of u are so weird 

**clout chaser**

youre never allowed on my futon again 

/

now that both jaemin and renjun are aware that him and donghyuck aren’t _actually_ dating, jeno knows he’s going to have to suffer a lot more than before. previously, renjun’s plan had been to make jeno end this little predicament for the sake of himself which was pretty easy to ignore. renjun’s glares were only scary if you paid attention and otherwise, jeno is perfectly capable in pretending renjun wasn’t glaring daggers at him and casting disapproving looks every time he made mention of donghyuck (which was admittedly, a lot). 

but jaemin is a whole other kind of menace. 

“when and how are you asking donghyuck out?” 

“what?” squawks jeno. they’re on campus, walking back to their apartment and jeno flails his arms, telling jaemin to quieten down because they’re _in public!! what if someone hears you??!!!_

“jeno. my main man. my platonic bromate. my brother from another mo-” 

“get on with it.” 

“donghyuck likes you,” jaemin tells him plainly. 

jeno deflects the statement. “of course he does, we _are_ friends.” 

jaemin is having none of it, it seems, because he sighs and tells jeno, “you know better than anybody what i’m talking about. and you know what? i don’t care. this is an opportunity from the gay gods and there is no way i’m letting you let this go to waste.” 

jeno sends jaemin a withering look. “do you just say whatever comes to your head without thinking? besides, donghyuck likes someone. a lot.” 

“yeah, you.” 

jeno fights the urge to kick jaemin’s shin. he doesn’t know why jaemin sounds so _certain._ donghyuck has basically confirmed jeno’s suspicion that his heart belongs to another and even if he _did_ like jeno, he probably likes mystery boy _more_ and is going to confess to him and they’re going to fall in love and have 2.5 kids and boy, does jeno feel like smothering his face in a pillow. 

“will you stop it with that.” jeno’s voice comes out strained and jaemin shoots him a pitying look. 

“just tell him! if he’s willing to pretend date you, he’s more than willing to real date you too.” 

/

“good afternoon, welcome to-” jeno pauses his regular greeting when he looks up, coming face to face with donghyuck. “oh, it’s you.” 

jeno thinks he’s gone rather accustomed to donghyuck showing up randomly whether it’s at his apartment or after his lecture, but never at work. well, that’s a first. speaking of – “how did you know i was here?” jeno asks. it could have been by coincidence but donghyuck prefers that hipster cafe near campus for god knows what reason – jeno's definitely not salty that they didn’t hire him when he went for an interview there. why would he be? 

“it’s me,” donghyuck agrees. “jaemin mentioned that you work on weekday afternoons and i had nothing better to do.” 

“that’s cute and all, but i have work to do.” donghyuck deflates a little at that and jeno has the decency to feel a little guilty. “i don’t get paid minimum wage to chat with pretty boys, i have customers to get to.” 

donghyuck raises a brow. “this place is literally empty,” he complains, scowling at jeno. then, “you think i’m pretty?” 

jeno ignores him in favour of checking the register (he doesn’t actually have anything to check, but he doens’t want donghyuck to see right through him. it’s taking him a lot to not roll his eyes to the ceiling and blurt out: _yes_ _i_ _think you’re pretty, also please be my boyfriend._ if anything, jeno’s being really considerate right now.) 

the initial plan of ignoring donghyuck works for exactly eight minutes before jeno finally gives in. okay, so yeah maybe business is slow and talking to donghyuck about literally nothing is infinitely more entertaining than pretending like he has actual work to do, sue him. 

eventually, jungwoo reminds him that he actually does have to get work done so jeno promises donghyuck that he’ll meet up with him after his shift ends. he doesn’t find the way donghyuck visibly brightens at that endearing in any way, shape or form. 

(he does.) 

it’s only when jeno’s almost done for the day does another eventful thing occur. he’s waiting for hyunjin to show up so he can clock out when a girl comes up to the counter. instead of an order however, she tells jeno, “you lied to me.” 

jeno doesn’t what to say. he doesn’t know who she is until he squints a little and realises why she was familiar in some way – she's the girl that approached him a few months ago asking – 

“you said you weren’t dating haechan,” she says, voice flat. she narrows his eyes at him and it dawns on jeno that she must be a fan of donghyuck’s. 

jeno lets out an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “i’m sorry, do– haechan wanted to keep it a secret.” he offers her an apologetic smile and it must work because her expression softens. curiosity still gets the better of him as he asks, “how did you know, though? back then?” that part still doesn’t add up. jeno didn’t know donghyuck back then, not in a friend way, at least. how could this random girl have possibly suspected anything? 

“haechan talks about you a lot, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together,” she answers, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

his expression must appear especially blank because she goes on to ask, “you didn’t know?” with that, she digs her phone from her bag and taps a few times on the screen. then, she shows the screen to jeno and it’s yet another old instagram live. jeno gulps. he remembers the last time he stumbled onto one of those and he doesn’t quite like recounting it. 

regardless, he pays attention. “remember the guy i talked about a while back?” donghyuck’s voice comes out small and tinny and jeno bites down a smile. there’s a dopey grin on donghyuck’s face as he continues, “we actually had a full conversation today, kinda. and guys, this is gonna sound gay as fuck but his hair looks _so_ soft. if i don’t make him my boyfriend i’m at least gonna steal his shampoo and conditioner.” 

just like the last time, the live comments blow up. this time, a lot of them are egging him on to continue describing him, perhaps out of the hope that they’ll be able to piece together who it is. “well, for starters, he has black hair and and dark eyes. kinda tall, definitely taller than me.” jeno almost rolls his eyes, _of course_ donghyuck would list down the vaguest description ever. still, a part of jeno thinks, _you’ve got black hair and dark eyes too!_ to that, jeno reminds himself that that also encompasses almost half of the general population. “we even share a class. by the way, did i tell you guys how he has these two pretty moles on his face–” 

at that moment, someone says something in the background and donghyuck turns to them. “who are you talking to?” the person asks, off camera. 

“i’m doing an insta live, wanna say hi?” 

a head peeks into frame and it’s mark. “what are you talking about?” mark asks, eyes scanning the comments before he realises what’s going on. his smile then turns smug as he shoots donghyuck a knowing look. “is it about jeno – oomph" mark gets cut off by a pillow hitting his face, thrown by donghyuck, and the live ends abruptly. 

the screen turns black and jeno is left staring at his own reflection, eyes wide and lips parted. the girl says something but jeno doesn’t pick up on anything she says. all he can think of how mark says _is it about_ _jeno_ _?_ _is it about_ _jeno_ _? is it about_ jeno _?_ he can feel his heart thumping and his ears burning and holy shit – 

“ _hello_ ,” the girls drawls out, waving a hand in front of jeno, effectively snapping him out of his daze. 

“i’m jeno,” jeno says. he looks down at his uniform, at the little nametag that reads _JENO._ then, “oh my god, _i’m_ jeno.” 

“i know,” the girl replies flatly. “that’s why i thought it was about you. is it not?” 

jeno doesn’t know what to reply to that. “i - i have to go now!” jeno chirps a quick goodbye to the girl before excusing himself to the break room. there, he proceeds to have a meltdown of sorts. pulling out his phone, he flips the camera to selfie mode and there it is, two moles on his right cheek. 

“oh,” he says, lowering the phone. 

he has black hair, dark eyes, he’s taller than donghyuck, shares a class with donghyuck and has two moles on the right cheek. and most obviously, his name is jeno.“mystery boy... is me?” jeno says to no one in particular. the revelation doesn’t surprise jeno as much as he thought it would. 

in hindsight, he supposes it _was_ kind of obvious – donghyuck looks at him sometimes in a way that seems weirdly familiar because that’s how jeno looks at _him_. and their ‘bonding escapades’ honestly are just dates, though he’d never actually admit that to anyone. 

_why hasn’t_ _donghyuck_ _asked me out?_ jeno wonders, then it hits him. assuming donghyuck is as dense as jeno, he probably has no idea that his feelings are reciprocated. the thought of donghyuck himself being oblivious to jeno’s crush on him is almost funny as it is troubling because if donghyuck doesn’t ask him out, they can’t be boyfriends and that’s a tragedy. so, jeno does what any normal person would do in a scenario like this; he calls renjun. 

“what do i do if donghyuck won’t ask me out?” he asks, the moment renjun picks up. 

there’s a sigh on the other end of the line. then, “what's stopping _you_ from asking him out?” 

and that’s jeno’s eureika moment. he _knew_ calling renjun would work. 

/

so, jeno tries. 

“i like you,” announces jeno. his voice isn’t shaky like he’d imagined it to be and he almost sounds confident, almost as if jeno isn’t one bad reaction from running away. (he is, just one frown and jeno’s going to dash out of the door.) 

donghyuck looks up from his phone and sports an easy grin that makes jeno’s heart flutter. “me too!” for a moment, jeno feels like his hopes rise – no, skyrocket because _holy shit_ , donghyuck likes him back? until he adds, “you’re such a good friend!” 

maybe not. 

. 

he tries again. 

(“i think we make a really good couple.” 

donghyuck nods fervently. “you’re right, we do look great together.”) 

. 

and again. 

(“will you go on a date with me?” 

donghyuck gives him a look – not a look, but a Look, yet not quite _the_ look – and jeno wonders for a moment if he’s finally gotten the message across. then donghyuck’s expression goes carefully blank for a moment before brightening. 

“of course, where did you have in mind? i was thinking about going ice skating but i already took you roller-blading and that _is_ kind of similiar–”) 

. 

and _again_. 

(“hey, hyuck. what’s your ideal first date?” 

donghyuck hums for a moment, considering. he tilts his head before replying, “something cliche, like a ... picnic?” 

“let’s go on a picnic,” jeno decides. his face must be red because his cheeks feel like they’re on fire. donghyuck must not notice because he makes no note of it. instead, he laughs, in that annoyingly endearing way of his. 

“i have class in ten minutes.” donghyuck sounds teasing, but behind the mischief he almost sounds apologetic. as if he would say yes, only if he didn’t have a lecture and jeno has half the mind to tell him to skip. 

of course, he doesn’t. donghyuck isn’t exactly a stellar student – he puts more effort into editing videos than handing in assignments on time – and the last thing jeno wants is to be the reason why donghyuck fails a class. also, donghyuck still hasn’t gotten the memo that jeno is in fact, super, ultra, _mega_ gay for him. figures.) 

/

“he still hasn’t figured it out?” 

“ _no_ ,” jeno complains. he’s been trying for one whole week to confess to donghyuck and he’s failed miserably. the closest thing to progress he had was accidentally saying _bye, love you_ to donghyuck on facetime. he didn’t exactly mean to say it – he'd just gotten off a phone call with his mom an hour ago – it must have been by habit. 

either way, jeno only realised his slip up after he said it. through his phone screen, donghyuck stops in his tracks (he was walking to his new filming spot) and stares at him. jeno bites his lip, considers just hanging up but donghyuck beats him to a response. 

“love you too, jen.” then the call ends and poor jeno is left there, jaw slack and cheeks pink. 

jeno shakes himself off his daze and focuses his attention back on jaemin and renjun. the pair are trying to make cookies and jeno is just here to make sure they don’t burn the place down. “he thinks i’m saying all that stuff in a platonic bro way.” 

“the both of you are hopeless,” renjun sighs as jaemin adds, “it’s a match made in heaven.” 

jeno leans over the kitchen counter and pokes jaemin in the rib. “you’re the pysch major here, come on, analyse this situation.” 

jaemin huffs before poking jeno back. which is wholly unfair, might jeno add, because jaemin’s nails are _sharp._ jaemin promptly ignores jeno’s yelp of pain. “all there is to derive is that you’re a lost cause.” renjun doesn’t even get mad when jeno flicks a handful of batter at jaemin for that. “how are we supposed to be in a happy relationship when he doesn’t even know i’m stupid for him?” 

“you’re stupid either way,” jaemin quips. renjun at least offers him a sorry look and he opens his mouth to say something, but jeno interrupts whatever he was about to say. “guys, what if he doesn’t want a relationship?” 

jaemin laughs at that, like full on laughs at jeno’s misery, clutching his stomach for extra measure. “the two of you have technically been practically dating since january,” he wheezes out, in between laughs. “and you’re telling me that hyuck doesn’t want a relationship?” 

“it’s a valid insecurity!” he complains. 

“no, it’s not,” renjun and jaemin chorus at the same time. 

/ 

unsurprisingly, april first is when everything sets into motion. 

jaemin had told him earlier that if his confession backfires, he could play this off as a prank. jeno was hoping that renjun would tell jaemin that’s an entirely flawed plan, but he didn’t, much to jeno’s chagrin. he seconded jaemin’s logic which brings jeno to where he is now; trying to confess to donghyuck for what has to be the fifth time or so. 

except this time, jeno is going to make sure that his message is made clear – which, yeah, that’s what he’s been saying since the third attempt – but that’s all in the past. this time, jeno has a _plan_. 

**the clout in question**

hey 

im coming over to your apartment 

we need to talk urgently 

on second thought, jeno supposes that his phrasing made it sound like he was dying or something and his suspicions were proven correct when his phone begins buzzing just three minutes after he sent the first texts. 

**clout chaser**

is everything alright? 

what happened?? 

**the clout in question**

dw im not like dying or anything 

i just wanted to tell u sth 

its nothing bad i promise 

“i thought i was in trouble or something,” is what donghyuck tells him when he answers his door. he’s wearing a snapback with tufts of blonde hair sticking out from the sides. he’s even wearing a floral button up that’s three sizes too big paired with basketball shorts. jeno thinks he looks like a fratboy and tells donghyuck as such. 

donghyuck scoffs but doesn’t deny it. they’re yukhei’s clothes, jeno comes to learn, who _is_ a fratboy and jeno wants to pat himself on the back for being able to deduce all that. (“it’s laundry day today and i had nothing else to wear. given any other occassion, you’d never catch me dead in a hawaiian shirt,” donghyuck chastises and jeno bites back a smile. he doesn’t ask about the snapback, only because it actually does look kind of cute on him and the last thing jeno would want is to make donghyuck take it off.) 

for a moment, jeno forgets why he’s here. donghyuck does that to him a lot, making him be a lot more forgetful than he actually is. once, he forgot to take his wallet out because he was too busy looking for donghyuck’s charger that the other had _insisted_ he left back at jeno’s place. 

but his eyes fall to donghyuck who’s curled up on his dumb couch that’s way too uncomfortable, his legs thrown over the side because he can never seem to sit properly and he’s still wearing that dumb snapback and jeno wants this. he wants all of this – donghyuck with all his dumb habits and mannerisms and sunny smiles, he wants it all _for real_. 

jeno takes in a deep breath. it’s now or never. 

he clears his throat, effectively capturing donghyuck’s attention. donghyuck gets up from where he was sitting and steps nearer to jeno. he even gives him a small smile to show that he’s listening and jeno can’t tell whether the gesture makes him feel better or worse. 

“i like you, okay?” jeno begins, voice vulnerable. he squeezes his eyes shut when he says this because whatever donghyuck’s reaction is, he doesn’t want to see it until he finishes. “like, as in, _like_ like, and i have liked you. for a really long time.” 

donghyuck doesn’t say anything and when jeno looks at him, he’s staring at jeno in awe, the corner of his lips pulled to a smile. jeno raises a brow, hoping to convey, _so? what’s the verdict?_

“it’s just. you said the word ‘like’ five times within the span of three sentences. i’m kind of amazed.” 

“ _that's_ your key take away from what i just said?” jeno splutters, incredulous. 

“i know,” donghyuck tells him softly. he’s still smiling and jeno stares at him like he’s grown an extra limb. 

“huh?” 

“i know you like me,” donghyuck repeats. “i’ve known since the first time you tried to confess.” 

jeno blinks. one, twice, and even a third time. yet what donghyuck says still makes no sense to him. “if you knew...” jeno begins, talking slowly so that he can get what he wants to say across, properly. “then, why didn’t you say so?” 

“i wanted to confess to you first,” donghyuck admits, almost sounding bashful. 

“you... what?” 

donghyuck runs a hand through his hair as he chews on his lower lip. “today’s april first, and i had a whole thing planned out. actually, none of that really matters right now. um, i like you, jen. a lot. and i’m sorry for pretending i didn’t know you were confessing. to be fair, it was kind of funny to see you trying so hard–” 

“oh, fuck you,” jeno snipes, with no real heat. 

“wait, this is supposed to be romantic,” donghyuck interjects. “jeno lee, be my boyfriend.” 

jeno bites down a smile. “that's you trying to be romantic?” 

donghyuck huffs. “i _would_ go the whole romantic route but i really want to kiss you right now and–” 

jeno leans in and does what he’s been wanting to for the past three months. the kiss is chaste and lasts for maybe a second but when jeno pulls away, donghyuck’s staring at him, eyes wide and lips parted. 

“um-” jeno begins but donghyuck doesn't give him the chance to finish because he pulls him by his collar and kisses him. donghyuck’s lips are on his and he’s here, flush against jeno’s chest and he’s warm, so warm that jeno can’t even form a proper thought. instinctively, jeno circles an arm around his waist, the other curling around donghyuck’s jaw. 

when they pull away, jeno looks down at donghyuck who’s staring right back at him with so much unhidden fondness in his eyes that makes jeno feel knocked out of his depth. donghyuck’s opens his mouth to say something – probably horribly embarrassing and sappy – but jeno pinches his arm before he has the chance. 

“the fuck?” donghyuck furrows his brows and jeno kind of wants to kiss them until they smoothen out again. _that’s gay as hell, bro_ says a voice at the back of his head. jeno thinks it sounds a lot like jaemin. that’s enough for jeno to know he shouldn’t pay any attention to it. 

“we could’ve been doing this since last week, you bastard,” jeno deadpans and flicks off the snapback on his head, mainly because he can. 

donghyuck doesn’t disagree, instead he tugs at jeno’s wrists and says, “why don’t we make up for lost time then?” the hat lies on the ground, already forgotten. 

“aren’t you full of great ideas,” jeno muses and he’s about to lean in again when donghyuck’s phone rings, effectively startling the both of them. jeno lets out a groan. “just ignore it,” he says, despite himself. 

typically, jeno would never do something like this – he's horribly considerate at all times, except just this once, he _really_ wants to make out with his boyfriend(!!) and like hell if jeno’s gonna let himself be cockblocked by a cell phone. 

donghyuck does as jeno says, although he giggles a little at jeno’s enthusiasm, and all is well for exactly thirty seconds before his phone starts to buzz again. donghyuck seems even more annoyed than he is when he finally answers the call and grits out, “ _what_.” 

the person says something on the other end of the line and while jeno can’t hear what they’re saying, he does see donghyuck’s eyes widening before he mumbles out a quick, “great, we’ll be there soon.” 

when donghyuck pockets his phone, jeno raises a brow at him. “we’ll be where soon?” 

“right, so remember how i said something about having a whole thing planned out?” jeno hums in lieu of a response. “it was actually supposed to be a confession, like i had everything ready and it was supposed to be filmed –” 

“wait, does that mean i ruined your plan?” jeno asks, deflating just a little. he’s infinitely touched that donghyuck went as far as planning a whole confession, though the latter has always had a flair for theatrics. he feels guilty for spoiling it, knowing how much thought donghyuck puts into these sorts of things. 

donghyuck’s expression softens and his grip on jeno’s hands tighten. “of course not, jen. and i like this confession better anyway. it feels more personal, like it’s just you and me, no cameras around.” 

jeno presses his mouth to a thin line, trying to force back a smile, until he remembers that he doesn’t have to do that anymore, and he can be as gross and sappy as he wants. so he beams at donghyuck, eyes creasing into half-moons. donghyuck’s grin mirrors his own and jeno is so disgustingly in love. jaemin’s gonna have a field day with this one. 

“i guess i’ll call off the thing then, since that won’t be necessary anymore.” 

“well,” jeno begins, his smile turning sly, “it _is_ april fool’s, and nobody knows we’re together yet, so there is _something_ we could do.” 

. 

donghyuck takes him to the heart of campus where it’s bustling with students, coming to and from classes. jeno has a general idea of what’s going to happen but is still confused when donghyuck tells him to wait there. “where are you going?” he calls out, but donghyuck only shoots him a wink that leaves him with more questions than answers. 

he feels a little lost, just standing here until distantly, jeno hears the sound of drums. followed by trumpets and tubas and the music only grows louder and before jeno knows it, there’s an entire marching band filing into the middle, capturing the attention of practically everyone in the premise. 

unfortunately, the attention goes onto jeno as well who seems to be in the middle of the band, and god, is he being _serenaded?_ jeno knows donghyuck has connections but he has no idea how he managed to rope in a whole marching band. 

from the corner of his eye, he spots a small filming crew – one guy holding the largest camera jeno has ever seen and another guy with a fucking boom mic. jeno feels a little lightheaded. 

by now, a crowd has started to form around jeno in a large circle and jeno can’t help the smile that starts to spread on his face. amongst the crowd of students, jeno spots a few familiar faces, mark and yukhei at the front – they must have been involved in this too, jeno assumes. 

the music only dies, leaving nothing but the drums, when the crowd parts in the middle, revealing donghyuck who’s all dressed up in a tux and everything. the stupid button up and basketball shorts are gone and jeno doesn’t even know how that’s possible – donghyuck was gone for like seven minutes, max. he doesn’t complain though, because his hair is slicked back and he looks _really good_ and jeno has to fight the urge to just kiss him right then and there. 

“jeno,” he says into the mic. jeno doesn’t question why donghyuck has a microphone in the first place, its lee haechan, _of course_ he has a microphone. “these past few months with have been amazing and i don’t think i’ve met anyone that compliments my personality as well as you do. you’re like, the ranch dressing to my dorito, man. ” 

(at the back of his mind, jeno wonders if donghyuck is going to propose. for the record, he’d say no. doyoung’s been waiting for yuta to propose for months and jeno doesn’t think his brother would like it if his little brother got engaged before he did.) 

“i don’t know why it took me so long to finally tell you this, but here i am. lee jeno, will you be my boyfriend? for real this time?” jeno’s heart warms at donghyuck’s words and mainly because he knows it’s all genuine. donghyuck meets his eyes and flashes a smile that feels too sweet for what the two of them are going to pull. jeno almost feels bad for everyone present. almost. 

grabbing the mic from donghyuck and putting on the blankest expression he can muster, he says into the mic, for all and everyone to hear, “no.” 

donghyuck’s eyes widen and his expression changes to one of surprise. jeno would apologise but he has a show to put on. “i’m sorry i had to break it you like this.” then, he turns and points to an unsuspecting wong yukhei, finishing off with a dramatic, “it’s because i’m in love with _him!_ ” 

for a moment, there is silence. 

yukhei’s expression contorts from one of shock to sheer horror. donghyuck’s probably staring at him with his mouth open. the audience stills, stunned. 

then, one of the marching band members drops their oboe and all hell breaks loose. there are hushed whispers going around the crowd, some people even filming whatever is unfolding. yukehi is holding back a very angry mark from throwing hands at jeno – he doesn’t know whether it’s because jeno just rejected his best friend on camera or declared to everybody in the vicinity that he’s in love with his boyfriend. probably a mixture of both. 

he turns around to meet donghyuck’s eyes, who’s giving him The Look. it’s not just _a_ look, but _the_ look, the one he’s been waiting for. “you don’t look very heartbroken,” jeno laughs. 

“you’re amazing,” donghyuck breathes out. it sounds a lot like _i love you_ and jeno wants to kiss him silly. so, he does. donghyuck meets him halfway and jeno can feel donghyuck smile into the kiss because he can’t help it and then jeno starts smiling too, because he can’t help it either. their teeth clack and it’s messy and probably not a very good kiss, but that’s fine. faintly, jeno registers the crowd going wild and that’s fine too. 

/

[ **HE SAID NO** ] 

_Posted 2 Days Ago_ | _3.2 Million Views_

_Hide Comments_

**FULLSUN** ✓ hey sunflowers, this year’s video is a little different from my usual but i hope you all enjoy it regardless!! thank you so much for the overwhelming support, jeno and i are infinitely grateful <33 

**male wife** THE LOOK ON YUKHEIS FACE AT 5:24 WAS PRICELESS 

**girl boss** and when he was holding mark back?? PLS 

**Sara J.** ngl jeno’s acting literally had me fooled for a hot minute 

**chuuya love bot** i think he had everyone fooled... even haechan looked taken aback 

**haechan’s** **left toe** jeno acting debut when 

**Banamilk luv** petition to let jeno take over haechans channel 

**emma** seconded 

**haechans** **wife** *sees haechan getting the perfect boyfriend* hey god its me again... 

**Rina ASMR** imagine going to ur uni campus and walking into lee haechan being publicly rejected. sounds like a fever dream holy shit 

/

lee jeno lives a fairly normal life. 

at least, he likes to believe as such, and for the most part, he does. he’s a business major that lives with his boyfriend in a humble apartment near campus. his week mostly consists of going to class, going to work at the cafe near his apartment and silly dates with the previously aforementioned boyfriend. when he’s not doing any of that, he’s probably stressing about midterms and student loans. 

see? perfectly normal. 

but these days, normal is a little different. for example, whatever is happening now is nothing out of the ordinary. 

“jeno, i’m breaking up with you.” donghyuck doesn’t meet his eye and his head is hung low. jeno notices the puffiness of his eyebags and how he keeps playing with his fingers like he does when he’s nervous. jeno sighs quietly. 

“it was bound to happen anyway,” jeno replies, his tone matching the somberness of the other man’s. jeno notices donghyuck stiffen beside him but he continues, “we aren’t who were two years ago anymore. i think the novelty of our relationship is starting to wear off, and it’s probably best if we start to see other people.” 

donghyuck’s head snaps up at that and he’s staring at jeno, jaw slack. hurt flashes in his eyes and jeno almost slips up. _almost_. 

“what are you talking about?” donghyuck’s voice is soft, and it’s so unlike him in almost every way possible. 

“we’re on the same page, aren’t we, donghyuck?” 

okay, that might have been a little too much because jeno hasn’t called his boyfriend _donghyuck_ in ages and even he can’t help but wince a little. “ew, that was weird,” jeno says, breaking character completely. the frown on donghyuck’s face is quickly replaced by a pout as he kicks jeno in the shin. 

“i fucking hate you, jen,” he hisses, “how did you even know i was filming? did you see the cameras?” 

jeno is wholly unfazed. “it’s cute you think you can actually pull a breaking up prank on me two years into our relationship. the acting was good though, did renjun put the makeup for you?” 

donghyuck lets out a huff but it isn’t long before he’s smiling again, leaning next to jeno and plopping his head onto jeno’s lap. “he did,” donghyuck says, “you almost got me for a moment. i literally saw my entire life flash before my eyes.” 

jeno looks down and meets donghyuck’s eye. they’re wide and shining like he’s telling the truth, which he is, and jeno is so, _so_ endeared by his silly boyfriend. “you’re so dramatic,” jeno tells him, endlessly fond, “i love you so much.” it’s not the first time he’s said this, definitely not the last, but the tips of donghyuck’s ears grow red anyway and yeah, this is normal. 

so yes, jeno lee does live a fairly normal life with a fairly abnormal boyfriend and he wouldn’t have asked for it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few things to say:
> 
> \- everytime jeno goes on a spiel abt haechan thats literally just me projecting  
> \- the next chapter is a bonus!! its like a prequel of some sorts ig  
> \- youtuber haechan and a lot of his video ideas are inspired directly by Elle Mills!! i love her sm and whenever i watch her videos its legit what id imagine hyucks hypothetical channel to be like pls do urself a favour and check her out  
> \- as always, take care, and kudos & comments always make my day


	2. the bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> frankly this one of my most favourite things ive ever written

it’s a tuesday night when doyoung receives a text from a number he doesn’t recognise. 

**unknown**

hey is this doyoung hyung’s #? 

**me**

yes... 

who is this?

 **unknown**

im donghyuck!! jung jaehyuns brother 

i kind of stole your number from jaehyun 

sorry hyung ^^ 

**me**

oh hey hyuck 

is there anything you need ? 

**hyuck**

you know how i have a youtube channel right? 

ok so 

i was wondering if you’d like to appear in one of my vids?? 

um im filming it this friday 

**me**

uhh 

i don’t know if i can make it.. 

**hyuck**

we’ll be tormenting jaehyun hyung btw 

thought u’d wanna join 

**me**

huh would you look at that 

suddenly im free 

**hyuck**

!! 

ur the best!! 

after reading the last text from donghyuck, doyoung turns off his phone. it’s been a hot minute since he’d last thought of jung jaehyun, much less his little brother. jaehyun, who doyoung thinks is nothing but a glorified dirtbag (and also his sophomore year boyfriend who he’d dumped after five months because he heard from ten who heard from mark who heard from johnny that jaehyun was planning to dump _him._ like hell if kim doyoung was going to let jaehyun break up with him first.), has been reduced to nothing except a bad alcohol-induced decision he made when he was dumb and horny. 

however, unlike jaehyun, doyoung quite likes donghyuck. they’d met when doyoung learnt that the younger boy had a habit of sneaking into jaehyun’s apartment and stealing food from the fridge, and first impressions aside, lee donghyuck is rather pleasant. plus, he helped doyoung key jaehyun’s car after they broke up, so he’s alright in doyoung’s book. 

similarly, doyoung is also familiar with donghyuck’s little youtube channel. (which actually isn’t so little anymore. _since when did he pass 500k subscribers?_ note to self, doyoung should send him a _congrats_ text soon.) 

he doesn’t mind making a cameo in one or two of donghyuck’s videos, especially so when he knows how the younger always manages to make it immensely entertaining. plus, he gets to bully jaehyun which, _yeah, he’s a mature adult now who no longer holds grudges against his ex_ \- but he won’t reject this opportunity especially when it’s handed to him from the universe itself in the form of a college freshmen with no fear of consequences. 

for the first time since he’s begun his senior year of college, doyoung’s actually looking forwardto a friday night. he thinks if he tells ten this, he wouldn’t even believe it. 

─────── 

as per donghyuck’s request, doyoung turns up at the younger boy’s apartment at eight o’clock sharp, dressed in his bunny print pajamas. when doyoung found out the premise of the video he’d be involved is – in donghyuck’s words – _a slumber party with my brother’s exes_ , he knew this was going to be fun. maybe not so for jaehyun who not-so subtly avoids him whenever he sees doyoung around campus, but it’s definitely gonna be fun for doyoung. 

when he rings the doorbell, the person who answers it is none other than lee taeyong, who jaehyun had gone out with two weeks after he broke up with doyoung. doyoung doesn’t hold it against him because taeyongdidn’t even last three weeks. “doie!” taeyong beams, clad in sleep wear as well, “hyuck managed to rope you in too, huh?” 

“hey, yong,” doyoung answers back, giving taeyong an equally warm smile back. “are the rest here already?” 

“nope,” taeyong tells him, leading to the living room where doyoung assumes everyone else is waiting. “donghyuck said jaehyun’s coming last and apparently one last guy has yet to arrive.” 

and just as he’d thought, there are three other guys and donghyuck sitting around a large rug, invested in what seems to be an intense game of monopoly. there are balloons up with a large banner reading, _FUCK YOU JUNG JAEHYUN._ when donghyuck notices that doyoung’s here, he looks up with his typical megawatt smile on full display. “hyung! you made it!” 

donghyuck quickly gets on his feet, dusting the none-existent dust off his shorts. “anyway, let me introduce the exes to you. i think you already know taeyong hyung, so here’s –” he points to a doe-eyed boy, “this is jungkook hyung,” then to a pretty blond and a guy who doyoung’s pretty sure he’s seen ten hang out with, “and finally, these are jungwoo and sicheng hyungs. make yourself comfortable, yuta hyung will bring the alcohol.” 

doyoung settles down between taeyong and jungwoo when jungwoo turns to him and asks, “so, what’s your villain origin story?” 

doyoung lets out a confused hum and donghyuck explains sheepishly, “i kinda invited his least favourite exes.. gotta make it interesting for youtube, you know? none of these relationships ended well.” typically, doyoung would take offense but he realises that jaehyun also ranks rather low on his list of exes. 

“yeah,” jungwoo starts, “jungkook here got ghosted after three weeks–” 

“ _hey_ ,” jungkook whines, “he forgot you even existed after spring break ended–” 

“yeah, no. we’re not arguing over who has the better sob story,” taeyong interjects, smoothly shutting the both of them up. “i think sicheng takes the cake anyway.” 

doyoung raises a brow at sicheng who shrugs and replies, “he cheated on me so i dated the guy he cheated on me with.” the corner of his lips twitches up when he finishes, “he hates the both of us now cause we’re still together.” 

before doyoung can reply, the doorbell rings. “that’s probably yuta hyung, could you get the door doyoung hyung?” doyoung wants to protest because he’s comfortable where he’s sitting, but donghyuck’s pouting at him and doyoung simply doesn’t have it within himself to say no. 

when doyoung pulls the front door open, he comes face to face with what has to be the most gorgeous human being he’s ever seen. “sorry i’m late, traffic was murder,” the guy mumbles, one hand brushing his long hair back, the other holding two packs of beer. he’s wearing a plain white tee and a pair of sweatpants but doyoung thinks he looks unfairly good regardless. 

when he looks up and sees doyoung instead of donghyuck, he breaks into an easy grin, revealing pearly whites. “hey, i’m yuta. and you are..?” 

“doyoung,” he says, a little too quickly. “kim doyoung.” 

“well then, kim doyoung, am i allowed in or are we gonna stand here all day? not that i mind, though.” the guy then has the audacity to wink at him. 

doyoung lets out a small cough, and steps aside. he’s pretty sure his face is flushed pink. “oh, um. right, sorry about that.” 

yuta’s smile only stretches wider as he walks past doyoung, and if doyoung isn’t imagining things, he swears he hears yuta say, “cute pajamas, by the way.” 

. 

when jaehyun finally arrives, he’s about an hour late. 

granted, donghyuck didn’t tell him why exactly he was supposed to come over in the name of capturing “authentic reactions.” they’re all in the middle of playing a round of _pin the dick on the_ _jaehyun_ , when doyoung hears the turning of a doorknob and someone coming inside. 

the rest of them must hear it too because jungkook takes off his blindfold, a shitty cut out of a messily drawn dick still in his hand, while everyone else grows quiet. 

“hyuck, bro–” jaehyun begins, but the moment he spots six other grown men on the floor, the words die in his mouth. a beat of silence passes until, “what the fuck.” 

donghyuck unsurprisingly remains unfazed by his brother’s reaction, his camcorder still in his hand, a bright smile on his face. “surprise! it’s a slumber party with your exes!” he tells jaehyun who’s looking around at the decor with a dazed sort of look. doyoung thinks he looks constipated. 

“am i allowed to leave?” he asks weakly, almost like he also knows that the answer is going to be – 

“nope,” donghyuck chirps, all too cheerily. 

jaehyun lets out a sigh and sits down on the empty cushion beside donghyuck, still not making direct eye contact with anyone apart from his brother. he spots the picture of himself stuck onto the wall with two badly-drawn dicks pasted haphazardly on it and purses his lips. 

no one says anything for an awkward beat or so and maybe it’s because everyone’s just staring at jaehyun and doyoung almost feels bad for him until he opens his mouth to ask, “why is yuta here?” 

yuta clicks his tongue at him. “rude.” 

“we never even _dated_ ,” jaehyun deadpans. 

“we made out once at a party,” yuta offers and doyoung can’t help but letting out a snort. he’s pretty sure jaehyun’s glaring at him ( _he is_ ) but doyoung doesn’t think he could care any less. 

“he’s here for comedic relief,” donghyuck replies, “in case it gets too sad or something. but i don’t think we have to worry about that cause i made a list of super fun things we can do!” 

“and i have to participate?” jaehyun asks, almost sounding like a whine. doyoung resists the urge to roll his eyes. 

“yes,” donghyuck tells him, and that’s that. 

. 

unsurprisingly, donghyuck actually made a list of activities they could do, starting from making DIY tie dye tshirt off a tutorial he found on tiktok to what they’re doing right now; the classic game of never have i ever. 

taeyong has already lost and it seems like it’s just a competition between doyoung and jaehyun who both have three fingers up. 

“never have i ever keyed my exes’ car,” jaehyun says smugly, looking directly at doyoung. doyoung rolls his eyes and puts a finger down, not before mumbling, “low blow, jung.” surprisingly, jungwoo puts a finger down too. 

“who was the unlucky ex?” yuta asks him in a quieter voice while jungwoo is explaining his story, a lopsided grin on his face. 

“who do you think? i think he’s still upset about it cause i roped his brother into helping me.” 

“you got donghyuck to help you out too? dang, i’m impressed,” yuta replies, looking up at doyoung with a flash of amusement in his eyes, before returning to whatever jungwoo was saying. 

it’s jungkook’s turn next and he says, “never have i ever tried to hook up with an exes’ ex.” it’s clearly a jab at jaehyun who lets out a sigh but places a finger down anyway. much to doyoung’s surprise, yuta puts a finger down too and asks, “does it still count if i’m still trying?” then the bastard has the audacity to look right at him and smile like he knows something doyoung doesn’t. 

and logically, when you have a pretty boy flirting with you, the most sensible thing to do would be to flirt right back. so, doyoung stares back at him as he says, “guess we’re on the same boat, huh?” then he puts a finger down. 

the rest of the circle is staring at the two of them, their expressions varying degrees of taken aback. taeyong asks for whose turn it was next and they resume the game until jaehyun asks from beside doyoung, “are we going to acknowledge that or...?” 

“shut up, jaehyun,” doyoung replies, and much to his relief, he actually does. 

. 

in typical donghyuck fashion, donghyuck wraps up the slumber party by inviting jaehyun’s boyfriend, in the hopes of starting a fight because in donghyuck’s words, “think of what the viewers would want.” except as doyoung comes to learn, kim mingyu, the boyfriend, is way too nice to actually beef with anyone. regardless, doyoung goes home that night having a lot better of a time than he had expected. 

oh, and with nakamoto yuta’s number too. 

─────── 

when donghyuck first came up with the idea of a slumber party with jaehyun’s ex-boyfriends, he never thought it would be as interesting as it turned out. hell, he doesn’t even know how he managed to persuade half of them to show up, but just a week after uploading the video, it ended up on the trending page and garnered over four million views (and counting!!!). 

the thing is though, about half of the comments were about yuta and doyoung and how they were practically flirting throughout the slumber party and donghyuck doesn’t usually play matchmaker but he’d think the two of them would be pretty cute together. and even mark, who helped him edit the footage thought the same. 

which brings him to where he is now, video-calling doyoung in the hopes of convincing him to take yuta on a date. doyoung accepts the facetime request and donghyuck greets him. he frowns when he realises that doyoung’s still in bed. “oh, is this a bad time, hyung?” he asks, not wanting to bother doyoung. 

“don’t worry about it, i was gonna get up anyway,” doyoung replies, a small smile forming on his lips. “anyway, what’s up?” 

“right, so the video did really well and i just wanted to thank you for taking part in it,” donghyuck tells him and he means it. he didn’t think doyoung would want to participate but he’s glad he did because he had no idea kim doyoung out of all people would be so entertaining. 

“and also-” donghyuck continues, but he gets cut off by a raspy voice coming from beside doyoung that sounds weirdly familiar. “who’re you talking to, doie?” the person asks, and donghyuck watches as the camera shakes a little and none other than yuta pokes his head into view, hooking his chin over doyoung’s shoulder. 

“oh, hey hyuck,” yuta smiles at him, as donghyuck stares back at his phone screen. he can feel the actual gears turn inside his brain and when he finally connects the dots, all he has to say is, “oh my god.” 

and that’s that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the video this bonus is based off https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIkAhvCUmaU  
> ok bye

**Author's Note:**

> a few things to say: 
> 
> \- everytime jeno goes on a spiel abt haechan thats literally just me projecting  
> \- the next chapter is a bonus!! its like a prequel of some sorts ig  
> \- youtuber haechan and a lot of his video ideas are inspired directly by Elle Mills!! i love her sm and whenever i watch her videos its legit what id imagine hyucks hypothetical channel to be like pls do urself a favour and check her out  
> \- as always, take care, and kudos & comments always make my day


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